23,615 Euro fine against Minister of Justice
Inadequate protective measures for employees of the Ministry of Justice.

On June 2, 2026, the Polish Data Protection Authority (UODO) imposed a fine of PLN 100,000 (EUR 23,615) on the Polish Minister of Justice in connection with the so-called “Hater Affair” from 2019. Employees of the Ministry of Justice had accessed confidential personnel files of judges without authorization and used their personal data—including health information, political views, and organizational affiliations—for political and private purposes, as well as disclosed it to unauthorized parties and published it on the internet. As the responsible official, the Minister of Justice had failed to implement adequate technical and organizational measures to prevent the misuse of the granted access permissions. The authority considered it an aggravating factor that a constitutional body of the state was involved and that the minister had provided false information in response to the authority’s initial inquiries.