The Federation for Hunting & Conservation – Malta (FKNK) has said that BirdLife Malta has been warned by the Data Protection Commissioner after a complaint was lodged by the FKNK against BirdLife Malta.

In his Decision of the 22 December 2011 the Commissioner said, “BirdLife Malta is being warned not to repeat such processing through the use of filming or any other means where individuals may be identified, without those individuals having given their consent and when such processing does not satisfy any one of the other criteria established under article 9 of the Act.”

FKNK said that on “21 October 2010 it requested the Commissioner of Data Protection investigate an alleged private-right breach of the Data Protection and Privacy Act by different persons from BirdLife Malta during an incident that occurred on 20 September 2010 at FKNK’s Hunting Reserve of Mizieb between BirdLife Malta and FKNK.”

In its complaint FKNK said that “different persons from BirdLife Malta where taking videos and pictures of FKNK representatives and not just without the representatives consent, however also and notwithstanding several warnings to stop taking pictures and videos. The footage from these videos were then uploaded on BirdLife’s website.”

Therefore, FKNK said, in his Decision the Commissioner also said, “BirdLife Malta acted incorrectly when it uploaded the said videos on its website in such a manner that FKNK representatives could be identified and as such processed personal data of those representatives. Such process certainly was not done in the public’s interest and so was not in conformity with the provisions of the Act.”

BirdLife Malta had taken off the videos from its website when the Commissioner had requested clarifications regarding FKNK’s complaint.

Regarding the same incident the FKNK had lodged a similar complaint against German based CABS, and the Commissioner’s Decision is still awaited.

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