Hospital sued over breach of privacy

A Vietnamese national previously denied residence in Iceland owing to suspicions that her marriage was a sham will now be allowed to stay.

Controversy has emerged over how the Directorate of Immigration received the information about the couple on which the previous decision to deny residence was based.

According to the couple’s lawyer, Björg Valgeirsdóttir, the information was illegally passed on to the Directorate of Immigration from the National University Hospital of Iceland (Landspítali) and then used in the case against granting residence.

The Icelandic Penal Code prohibits the disclosure by State-authorised persons of personal information acquired in the course of their work. Such offences are considered to be very serious.

The Directorate of Immigration’s U-turn came quickly after Icelandic media turned its attention to the case. The case had previously been in the system for sixteen months, during which time Thi Thuy Nguyen was unable to work or support herself or her family.

The couple are said to be happy and relieved at the outcome, but determined to press their legal rights over the handling of their case, and have reported the leak to the Icelandic Data Protection Authority.

Valgeirsdóttir deems the actions of the Directorate of Immigration and Landspítali to be a serious breach of privacy and unauthorised disclosure of information, and considers that the couple deserve damages from the Icelandic State.

Photo: Kristinn Morgunblaðið/Kristinn