Privacy reprimand for Burioni over complainants’ data

Il Resto del Carlino, in its article “Privacy, Burioni ammonito: ‘Pubblicati dati sensibili di chi l’aveva denunciato’”, reports that Italy’s data protection authority reprimanded Roberto Burioni without imposing a fine. The decision reportedly concerns his publication on Facebook and X of names and portions of identity documents belonging to three people who signed a disciplinary complaint against him, submitted to the medical association of Pesaro and Urbino. The decision itself has not been directly consulted, so its outcome and reasoning have not been verified against the original document.

According to the newspaper’s account, the defence argued that the complaint challenged Burioni’s scientific credibility and justified a public response, including through his social media channels. The authority reportedly considered the disclosure disproportionate: defending his reputation and challenging the complaint’s arguments did not require making its signatories identifiable. In that account, the documents’ previous accessibility did not justify their subsequent publication. In choosing a reprimand without a financial penalty, the authority reportedly took into account the removal of the posts, Burioni’s cooperation during the investigation and the absence of relevant previous infringements.