Land and mortgage register numbers constitute personal data
The President of the Personal Data Protection Office provided this information in a letter to the former Surveyor General of Poland (GGK), who cannot accept that the then-President of the Personal Data Protection Office prohibited the GGK from disclosing the land and mortgage register numbers on Geoportal2 and imposed a fine for publishing them. In one of the letters to the Polish DPA, the former Surveyor General of Poland requests a change in the position of the Polish supervisory authority in this matter.
In response, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office stresses that he invariably takes the view that land and mortgage register numbers constitute personal data within the meaning of the GDPR citing the definition of personal data as provided in the Regulation.
The President of the Personal Data Protection Office also reminded what are the consequences of disclosing land and mortgage register numbers and how easy it is to obtain data contained in electronic land and mortgage registers including first names, surnames, parents' names, personal identification number (PESEL number) or property address.
The President of the Personal Data Protection Office also stressed that the decision of the supervisory authority was confirmed by the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 5 May 2021 (ref. no. II Sa/Wa 2222/20).
In his response, he stressed that there were no grounds in this case to change the supervisory authority's position regarding the recognition of land register numbers as personal data. There are also no grounds for revoking or amending the decision.
In the letter, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office also recalled that the former GGK prevented employees of the Polish DPA from carrying out inspections, for which it also received a fine. On 23 February 2021, in case ref. no. II Sa/Wa 1746/20, the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw not only dismissed the complaint against that decision, but also found that the GGK, by preventing inspection activities, had demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the rules applicable to public authorities in Poland.
DKN.5110.56.2024
