Agora platform fined €6,000 over personal data breaches

Nicosia, Cyprus. Fidias Panayiotou’s Direct Democracy app and online platform, Agora, has been fined €6,000 for personal data breaches, Commissioner for Personal Data Protection Maria Christofidou announced on Wednesday.

The administrative fine, made public on Tuesday, was described by the authority as reasonable and proportionate.

Failure to comply

Panayiotou, listed as the platform’s data controller, was found to have breached provisions of the regulation by failing to comply with the authority’s request to temporarily suspend the platform’s operations while it collected and processed personal data.

The commissioner said Panayiotou’s actions and omissions obstructed or delayed an in-depth investigation into the case.

Authority’s requests

Christofidou said the authority had repeatedly issued clear requests as part of its investigation into personal data matters, but Panayiotou had not provided adequate replies.

His compliance was described as fragmentary and incomplete, and as not addressing the full scope of the authority’s requests.

Public statements considered

The commissioner said Panayiotou, as data controller, was required to provide timely, clear, complete and consistent information to enable the authority to carry out its supervisory duties.

The authority said he neither temporarily suspended the app as requested nor provided full and clear feedback. It also considered his public statements that he would not suspend the app and/or online platform, which it said supported the finding of a lack of willingness to comply and cooperate.