Guide on Article 8 of the Convention – Right to respect for private and family life
late Article 8 because of its contribution to a debate of general interest (Fürst-Pfeifer v. Austria, § 45). 208. The Court has found that the collection and storage of a person’s health-related data for a very long period, together with the disclosure and use of such data for purposes unrelated to the original reasons for their collection, constituted a disproportionate interference with the right to respect for private life (Surikov v. Ukraine, §§ 70 and 89, concerning the disclosure to an employer of the medical grounds for an employee’s dispensation from military service). 209. The disclosure – without a patient’s consent – of medical records, including information relating to an abortion, by a clinic to the Social Insurance Office, and therefore to a wider circle of public servants, constituted an interference with the patient’s right to respect for private life (M.S. v. Sweden, § 35). A criminal court’s dismissal of a defendant’s application to hear evidence which contained senstitive medical information in camera was also found to have breached Article 8 as the court had not carried out any individualised assessment of proportionalty (Frâncu v. Romania, §§ 6375). The disclosure of medical data by medical institutions to journalists and to a prosecutor’s office, and the collection of a patient’s medical data by an institution responsible for monitoring the quality of medical care were also held to have constituted an interference with the right to respect for private life (Mockutė v. Lithuania, § 95). In this case there had also been an interference with Article 8 concerning the information disclosed to the applicant’s mother, given the tense relations between the latter and her daughter (§ 100). 210. The right to effective access to information concerning health and reproductive rights falls within the scope of private and family life within the meaning of Article 8 (K.H. and Others v. Slovakia, § 44). There may be positive obligations inherent in effective respect for private or family life which require the State to provide essential information about risks to one’s health in a timely manner (Guerra and Others v. Italy, §§ 58 and 60). In particular, where a State engages in hazardous activities, which might have hidden adverse consequences on the health of those involved in such activities, respect for private and family life under Article 8 requires that an effective and accessible procedure be established which enables such persons to seek all relevant and appropriate information (McGinley and Egan v. the United Kingdom, §§ 97 and 101; Roche v. the United Kingdom [GC], § 167, for instance to assess any risk to which a person may be exposed).
6. File or data gathering by security services or other organs of the State 35 211. This chapter should be read in conjunction with the one on Special secret surveillance of citizens/organisations, referring notably to the principles set out in the cases of Centrum för rättvisa v. Sweden [GC] and Big Brother Watch and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC]. The Court has held that where a State institutes secret surveillance, the existence of which remains unknown to the persons being controlled with the effect that the surveillance remains unchallengeable, individuals could be deprived of their Article 8 rights without being aware and without being able to obtain a remedy either at the national level or before the Convention institutions (Klass and Others v. Germany, § 36). This is especially so in a climate where technological developments have advanced the means of espionage and surveillance, and where the State may have legitimate interests in preventing disorder, crime, or terrorism 36 (ibid., § 48). An applicant can claim to be the victim of a See also Surveillance of telecommunications in a criminal context and Special secret surveillance of citizens/organisations, and the Guide on Data protection. 36 See the Guide on Terrorism. 35
European Court of Human Rights
53/161
Last update: 31.08.2021
