Saviour Balzan files complaint to Vodafone, GO, data protection commissioner

MaltaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan has submitted a complaint to telecoms companies Vodafone and GO, demanding they investigate a breach of personal data from their companies internally and determine the source of the breach.

Details of Balzan’s call logs were revealed in the blog of Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, referring to calls between Balzan and the chief of staff of the Prime Minister, Keith Schembri.

In his letter to the telecoms companies, which also includes a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner, Balzan requested that the companies take immediate action against whoever is found to have been involved in this violation of data protection rules.

Balzan has also reserved his right to take legal action against the companies if they fail to take action on the breach.

In his complaint, Balzan said the posts suggested that Caruana Galizia was privy to phone records and other personal information, a suspicion she later confirms in the second post, through which she exposes the specific details of the alleged phone calls, including the phone numbers, the service providers, the time, as well as the duration of the calls.

“These phone records clearly constitute personal data as defined under Article 2 of the Data Protection Act,” Balzan said in his complaint.

“I acknowledge that public persons are subject to journalistic scrutiny. This notwithstanding, journalistic freedoms and the corresponding right to freedom of expression do not include the right to process personal data without the consent and to the prejudice of the data-subject.

“It is evident that this personal data was processed unlawfully and illegitimately and without any justification by one or more employees or members of staff in order to serve Caruana Galizia’s ends. This illegal processing constitutes a clear breach of my client’s privacy and is punishable by a fine of up to €23,000. Not to mention the breaches under criminal law.”

Balzan has also asked the Data Protection Commissioner to investigate the data breach immediately.

Caruana Galizia had already issued an apology over a 2013 article in which she falsely claimed that Saviour Balzan and Roger de Giorgio, owners of MediaToday, the publisher of MaltaToday, entered into a private agreement with the General Workers Union for the sale of MaltaToday. In a statement published on her blog, Caruana Galizia said: “I confirm that this statement is factually incorrect and that Saviour Balzan and Roger de Giorgio have never entered or intended to enter into a private agreement of this nature.”

She added that it was not her intention to damage or harm Saviour Balzan’s or Roger de Giorgio’s reputation, “and I apologise unreservedly for any inconvenience and/or harm that I may have caused to them by this article.”

The civil suit for libel was initiated following the publication of the said article, and was settled before a court outcome for commercial damages between both sides, on condition of the retraction.

Vodafone launches internal investigation

Following Balzan's complaint, Vodafone said it has launched an internal investigation, adding that it will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities.

It said, however, that the investigations has so far yielded no indications of breaches.

“Vodafone takes the privacy and security of its customers very seriously. We are currently conducting an internal investigation in response to Mr Balzan’s claims. At this stage, however, we have no evidence whatsoever to indicate that there has been a breach in the systems in place to protect our customers’ communication.”