Collection and retention of personal data reflecting applicant’s presumed sexual orientation without proven factual basis: Violation of Article 8 of ECHR
In Chamber judgment (8/9/2022) in the case of Drelon v. France (application no. 3153/16) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applications concerned, first, the collection and retention, by the French blood donation service (EFS) of personal data reflecting the applicant’s presumed sexual orientation – together with the rejection of his criminal complaint for discrimination – and, second, the refusal of his offers to donate blood, together with the dismissal by the Conseil d’État of his judicial review application challenging an order of 5 April 2016 which amended the selection criteria for blood donors. Addressing the first application, the Court found that the collection and retention of sensitive personal data constituted an interference with the applicant’s right to respect for his private life. That interference had a fores