Supplementary aid for the disabled - Council

Opinion of 25 November 2008 on the notification for prior checking on the supplementary aid for the disabled (Case 2008-388)

The processing called "Supplementary aid for the disabled", managed by the Welfare Unit, concerns the covering of non-medical expenses of a disabled person, with the individual making a contribution. After exhausting the possibilities of national and statutory aid, and under conditions established by the 2004 guidelines, the data subject can request aid, and data are then collected for the payment/reimbursement of an invoice and for the establishment of the level of the individual's contribution.

Data on health are processed, because additional financial aid for disabled persons can only be granted on the basis of medical reports and invoices concerning the processing necessary for the disability. Furthermore, supporting documents on occupational income, retirement pensions, family allowances and other information given to the welfare officer etc. are provided, so a number of aspects of the data subject's individual situation are assessed, namely financial, family, occupational and social circumstances. This processing operation therefore falls within the scope of the prior checking procedure based on Article 27(2)(a) and (b) of the Regulation.

In its recommendations, the EDPS emphasised inter alia that the GSC conveys to the welfare officer taking notes during discussions and to the welfare unit team responsible for the dossiers the obligation to comply with the principle set out in Article 4(1)(c) of the Regulation. The EDPS also recommended that as a general rule, the right of access and of rectification should be granted to the data subject as regards the personal notes of the welfare officer, in the light of the proportionality principle, other than in legitimate exceptional cases. It was also recommended that an order be drafted with the medical experts in the light of Article 23 of the Regulation.