Privacy Guarantor: Guido Scorza, member of the Authority, resigns
Investigated, with the other members, for embezzlement and bribery by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office as part of an enquiry that arose after reports on the TV programme
Guido Scorza, member of the Garante della Privacy, has resigned. The announcement came with a video on Instagram and a long post on his website. 'No responsibility for the objections,' he wrote, 'but the Garante needs credibility'.
A video and a very long post announcing the step back
"I have just transmitted to the president and the secretary general of the Data Protection Authority my irrevocable resignation as a member of the College," he wrote on Instagram, announcing a video to explain the reasons for the choice. "I have decided to take a step back. I believe it is a just and necessary decision in the interest of the institution even if, allow me to think so, I cannot but consider it unfair in substance and in the manner in which I took it,' Guido Scorza wrote on his personal website. 'I have no qualms or embarrassment in confessing that it was one of the most painful decisions of my life,' Scorza added. I am leaving, he emphasised, 'a mission to which I have dedicated every day of the last five years, "a post I had dreamt of since I first met Stefano Rodotà and Giovanni Buttarelli thirty years ago, who were working on what was to become Italy's first law on the protection of personal data. I am leaving - and I come to the reasons for such a painful choice - mainly out of respect for their dream, that of Stefano and Giovanni, but also for the many women and men who, with them, gave life to what would later become the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali'.
Investigated for embezzlement and bribery
Together with the other members of the Authority, Scorza is being investigated for embezzlement and corruption by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office as part of an enquiry that started after some reports by Report. The investigation involves four members of the panel of the Privacy Authority, including its president Pasquale Stanzione. The file is coordinated by the deputy, Giuseppe De Falco. The investigators speak of 'nonchalant conduct', not only in the management of public money but also of blue cars. The prosecution also hypothesises light penalties on the basis of personal relationships with companies. At the centre of the case is the EUR 44 million fine for Meta and a fine for Ita Airways.
