Articles 226-21 and 226-22 of the penal code, in their version currently in force, come from law no. 2004-801 of August 6, 2004 relating to the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and amending law no. 78-17 of January 6, 1978 relating to data processing, files and freedoms. They repress several forms of misappropriation of personal data for the purpose of their processing. In the commented judgment, the criminal chamber clarified their respective fields of application.
At the origin of this judgment, on September 27, 2024, Mr. CW filed a complaint with the establishment of a civil party in the hands of the senior investigating judge, on charges of misuse of the purpose of processing personal data and violation of professional secrecy. He questioned the abusive use by a police officer of his personal data contained in the handrail register, according to him, in the computerized handrail file (automated processing).
On October 16, 2023, the investigating magistrate issued an order refusing to provide information, which was subsequently confirmed by the investigating chamber of the Pau Court of Appeal. The civil party appealed to the Court of Cassation against this decision. In the judgment commented on, the criminal chamber overturns the judgment of the investigating chamber for insufficient reasons. Two legal questions arose: that of the material scope of the offense of misappropriation of personal data and that of the extent of the investigating magistrate’s obligation to instruct in this matter.
An expanded scope for the protection of sensitive personal data
The processing of personal data is defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR – Reg. [UE] 2016/679 of Parl. EU and Council of April 27, 2016) as “any operation or set of operations carried out or not using automated processes and applied to data or sets of personal data, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, conservation, adaptation or modification, extraction, consultation, use, communication by transmission, dissemination or any other form of making available,…
date: 2026-02-11 23:06:00