Back France: Committee of Ministers ends its supervision of a case concerning the collection and retention of personal data in the context of blood donation

At its meeting on 9 October, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the Drelon v. France judgment.
This case concerns the disproportionate interference with the applicant's right to respect for his private and family life (Article 8 of the Convention), as a result of the collection in 2004 and retention by the Établissement Français du Sang (French Blood Establishment) of personal data containing information about his alleged sexual orientation, which had led to several refusals to accept the applicant as a blood donor.
The applicable legislation has been amended several times, and since a decree of 16 March 2022, sexual orientation is no longer considered a contraindication to donating blood. It is therefore now forbidden to collect data on this subject. Data collected prior to 2022 will continue to be kept by the Établissement Français du Sang, but will only be accessible to a very limited number of medical practitioners, and they will be kept for 15 to 30 years from the last blood donation, depending on the nature of the data. 


Final Resolution CM/ResDH(2024)217

 Country factsheet of France

15 October 2024
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