Let's imagine that an athlete is investigated for alleged doping and the Spanish Agency for Health Protection (AEPSAD) initiates disciplinary proceedings for this reason that ultimately ends up being archived.
Within the framework of this sanctioning procedure, the AEPSAD publishes the athlete's health data, and the following doubt then arises: Have the athlete's rights been violated in relation to the protection of their personal data? Recently, the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court (AN) has established the criterion that data on doping is health data of the athlete and, therefore, a violation in terms of data protection in this area constitutes a very serious fault.
The First Section of the Contentious Chamber has rejected the appeal presented by the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sports (AEPSAD) against the resolution of the Spanish Data Protection Agency that sanctioned the appellant for a very serious infringement. for publishing data on the health of an athlete within the framework of a doping sanctioning file that ended up being archived.
According to the General Council of the Spanish Judiciary (CGPJ), the athlete reported to the Data Protection Agency (AEPD) that the AEPSAD had revealed data about his health when publishing his allegations in the file that had been opened for doping. The AEPD considered that the AEPSAD had committed a very serious offense by violating article 7.3 of the Organic Law on Data Protection, which establishes that personal health data can only be collected, processed and transferred for reasons of interest. general, when so provided by law or the affected party expressly consents.
The AEPSDAD recognized its error; but he appealed to the AN upon understanding that the published data was not health data and, therefore, the infraction should be classified as serious and not very serious. The Court rejected the appeal, clarifying that, in the specific area of sports regulations, “the fight against doping is closely linked to the health of athletes, as it could not be otherwise, since the use and consumption of certain products can falsify individual performance and, therefore, are prohibited in sports competitions: but, in addition, they directly affect the physical conditions of the users and, therefore, also their health.
1. The athlete had stated that the presence of a prohibited substance in his physiological samples was due to the accidental ingestion of a medication that his son was taking for a common illness.
