MEP David Casa has underlined the importance of an investigation into the systematic misuse of citizens’ personal data during a meeting with the Data Protection Commissioner.
Casa said the personal data was being weaponised to discriminate services on the basis of perceived political allegiance.
“I was assured that the investigation is active,” Casa explained.
“As always, I placed myself at the disposal of the Maltese authorities to do their job in ensuring that the Maltese Government behaves within the boundaries of the law, especially since we know this is not the case,” he said.
In October, Casa wrote to the Data Protection Commissioner requesting an investigation "into the systematic breaches" of European data protection law.
His request had followed an investigation by Times of Malta that uncovered a Transport Malta racket to help specific candidates obtain a driving licence.
In a letter to the Data Protection Commissioner Ian Deguara, Casa wrote:
“The leaked Whatsapp chats clearly show that the widespread institutionalised discrimination on the basis of perceived political allegiance are based on data being held by the Labour Party and its corrupt taxpayer-funded political operators within government entities.”
Casa welcomed the Commissioner’s acknowledgement that the facts were sufficiently serious so as to warrant an ex officio investigation.
“The hijacking of government entities by Labour Party fixers and operatives and their misuse of private citizen data poses a massive threat to the fundamental rights and freedoms of Maltese citizens,” Casa emphasised.
“This is far beneath the standards of a democratic government. It is a disgrace.”
In a resolution on the rule of law in Malta, the European Parliament called for the European authorities to monitor the case after it expressed its deep concern at the scandals published this year.
The European Parliament called “on the European Data Protection supervisor to monitor the ongoing investigation in Malta, which was publicly announced on October 9 and will look into the abusive use of private data of Maltese citizens, which could have been used for discrimination on the grounds of political affiliation.”