Serious "Breach of Confidentiality of Personal Data" in Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the EPO
Yes, the same EPO that routinely uses "data protection" and "GDPR" as a pretext for hiding or covering up its corruption and white-collar crimes (it even uses that as an excuse for refusing to obey courts' orders)
The Frenchmen Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos have truly turned the EPO into a dungeon of corruption. Making things even worse, they evade oversight and accountability, they bribe those meant to oversee them, and they use "privacy" not to protect human dignity but to shield corrupt people, sometimes criminals.
This has gotten way out of hand. The EPO is a huge reputational problem for Europe, far more potent than anything that comes out of the media in the Kremlin. If the EPO fails to undo the damage or correct its conduct (probably way too late for that already), not only the EPO will suffer but also the EU and everybody in Europe, even outside the EU.
In an open letter to the President, who refers to himself as "the f--king president", the Central Staff Committee explains that privacy of staff is being breached... by the Administration! Hardly the first such scandal.
The Central Staff Committee (CSC) wrote to staff:
In an open letter to the President, the CSC requests him to remind managers that the reason for a staff member’s absence must not be disclosed to colleagues.Read more about this breach of confidentiality of personal data in the open letter.
Here's the full letter from the CSC:
European Patent Office
80298 Munich
GermanyCentral Staff Committee
Comité central du personnel
Zentraler PersonalausschusscentralSTCOM@epo.org
Reference: sc25050cl
Date: 12/09/2025
European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY
To: Mr António Campinos (President of the Office)
Cc: Ms Nellie Simon (VP4), Mr Steve Rowan (VP1), Mr
Christoph Ernst (VP5)By email:
To: president@epo.org
Cc: vp4office@epo.org, vp1@epo.org,vp5@epo.orgOPEN LETTER
Disclosure of colleagues’ reasons for absence
Dear Mr President,
The Staff Representation would like to draw your attention to the rights of staff concerning the confidentiality of personal data, particularly in relation to health and health-related absences.
It has come to our attention that, in some instances, managers have disclosed the reason for a colleague’s absence to team members. We would like to stress that such disclosures are not permissible under the applicable data protection framework as confirmed by the DPO.
The reason for an absence qualifies as a “special category of personal data” and must therefore be treated with the highest level of care and confidentiality. Disclosure is only permissible when strictly necessary and, on a need-to-know basis.
Sharing such information - especially when health-related - without operational justification not only violates data protection principles but also undermines trust within the team.
Even without medical details, mentioning that an absence is due to sickness can cause discomfort or distress for the individual concerned. Team members have neither the right nor the need to receive this information. The consequence may be that the colleague on sick leave feels stigmatized and that the team’s atmosphere is negatively affected as speculation and gossips are encouraged.
Respect for privacy is therefore not only a legal obligation, but also a matter of trust, dignity, and collegiality.
The CSC therefore urges you to remind all managers to remain vigilant in protecting staff privacy.
Sincerely yours,
Derek Kelly
Chairman of the Central Staff Committee
The CSC rightly points out the double standards. When corruption emerges or when corrupt officials do something illegal they use "data protection" to cover that up; when they themselves consciously violate data protection rules nobody gets punished.
This is dictatorship. █