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Care organisation diametrically opposed to municipalities
Care organisation Espria, owner of GGZ Drenthe, Icare and De Trans, has taken five Drenthe municipalities to court for breaching the privacy of care workers. The alleged privacy breaches occurred during a tender under the Social Support Act (WMO) and the Youth Act (Jeugdwet)
The five municipalities require the care organisations to hand over a list of all professionals. For each person, they must state which registrations (such as BIG, SKJ, NVO and NIP) they hold. In addition, the municipalities want a certificate of conduct (VOG) for everyone. If not, these organisations will not be eligible for the contract award.
Breach of privacy rules
The care organisations believe that the requirement is a breach of the GDPR. They consider that it does not comply “with the principles of purpose limitation and data minimisation”. In doing so, they refer to case law of the European Court of Justice. Moreover, they wonder how the municipalities manage this privacy-sensitive information about their staff.
Disproportionate
According to the care organisations, the requirement is “disproportionate”. Supplying this data takes a great deal of time, they told the court in Assen. Icare, GGZ Drenthe and De Trans have thousands of employees. Moreover, employees are entitled to refuse consent.
Not for the first time
Previously, these care organisations had offered the five municipalities to provide the data anonymously. After a detailed explanation, which also included the offer to allow spot checks, the municipalities replied in a single sentence: “No, we are not prepared to do this.”
Legitimate interest
Before the court, the municipalities state that they have “a legitimate interest” in requesting staff data. “We consider it crucial that the (sometimes vulnerable) residents of the municipalities receive care from suitable employees. We also want to check this.”
This position is disputed by the mental health care organisations. The mental health care organisations point out that the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) supervises the quality of care.
The court will deliver its judgment on Friday next week.