Taxa 4x35

In October 2018, the Danish Data Protection Authority notified the police about a taxi company and proposed a fine (of DKK 1.2 million) for non-compliance with the principle of data minimisation. According to the taxi company, the stored personal data of customers should be anonymised after two years. However, the company deleted the names of its passengers from all its records after two years, while the passengers' telephone numbers were deleted only after five years. Information on the consumer behaviour of the customers, the pick-up and return points, could therefore be attributed to a private person up to five years after a taxi tariff. The taxi company had registered information on 8,873,333 personally identifiable taxi tariffs that were older than two years. The taxi company argued that the storage of its customers' telephone numbers was important in regards to the access to the company's database and for business development. The Danish Data Protection Authority reported the taxi company to the police and proposed a fine of DKK 1.2 million (approx. EUR 160,000). The Danish Data Protection Authority stated that business development was not a legitimate reason to keep personal data for such a long period of time. The Danish Data Protection Authority concluded that a data controller may not set a deadline for deletion that is three years longer than necessary, simply because the company's system makes it difficult to comply. Please note: As Danish law does not provide for administrative penalties as in the GDPR (unless the case is straightforward and the accused person has given consent), penalties are imposed by the courts. Authority: Danish Data Protection Agency (Datatilsynet)