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stance. A characteristic example can be seen in decision No. 62/2004
12
, where
the Authority recommended that the Greek Supreme Council for Civil Personnel
Selection (ASEP) should only publish online the names of successful candidates
who are awaiting appointment and not the details of those who have failed the
exam. According to the Authority, the publishing of all such data on the Inter-
net would be in excess of the requirements needed to ensure transparency, giv-
en access to these data would become available to the public who may or may
not have an interest in this information. More specifically, the court held that it
would be disproportionate to the aim of transparency to publish data related to
exam failings, thus enabling any third party to become privy to such information
even by complete chance.
13
In view of the above, the Authority has stressed the need to place a time restric-
tion on the publication of unfavorable administrative acts (demotions, suspen-
sions, employee dismissals) on the Internet
14
in the recommendations of Opinion
No. 1/2010
15
, effectively positioning this as an essential corollary of the prin-
ciple of proportionality.
16
The Authority also stressed the necessity of placing
a time restriction on the publishing of unfavorable information in the case of
12. See Greek Data Protection Authority Decision No. 62/2004, available at:
(De-
cisions), last access June 10, 2013.
13. See Greek Data Protection Authority Decision No. 38/2001, available at:
(De-
cisions), last access June 10, 2013.
14. In relation to the wide publicization of non-favorable acts (but not on the Internet), cf. Rec-
ommendation No. 2/2011 of the Greek Data Protection Authority, available at:
(Decisions), last accessed on: 1 May 2012, concerning the compatibility of Bar Associations’
publicizing, in their capacity as controllers, of lawyers’ disciplinary penalties vis-à-vis the
provisions on the protection of subjects from the processing of personal data. The Authority
held, in a majority vote, that the posting decisions ordering final disbarments of lawyers on
the walls of Bar Associations is lawful. On the other hand, the posting of such decisions in
courthouses and at the office of the Secretaries of the local Public Prosecutors of courts of
First Instance, where any citizen could have access to them, is unlawful. Most importantly, it
was deemed unlawful to post decisions enforcing a temporary suspension of lawyers at Bar
Associations’ offices, in courtrooms and at the office of the Secretaries of the local Public
Prosecutors of courts of First Instance.
15. See Greek Data Protection Authority Opinion No. 1/2010, Posting of legislation, regulatory
and personal acts on the Internet, available at:
(Decisions) last access June 10,
2013.
16. See also Fereniki Panagopoulou-Koutnazi, Tr@nsparency in public administration under the
light of personal data protection, Human Rights Journal 2012. In Greek.
