Burgas Prosecutor’s Office Orders Comprehensive Inspection of Beauty Salons After Leaked Client Videos Scandal

The District Prosecutor's Office in the coastal city of Burgas has called for a full inspection of beauty salons following a scandal involving leaked video recordings of clients secretly filmed during laser hair removal procedures.

The prosecution has requested that the Regional Health Inspectorate (RHI) in Burgas, the Commission for Personal Data Protection, and the Burgas Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior submit documentation related to the work of beauty salons in the city.

Investigators in Burgas have already removed more than 120 video clips showing female clients of beauty salons.

The director of the RHI in Burgas has been instructed to provide all administrative acts regulating the conditions and procedures for maintaining a public register of premises with public functions that carry out laser hair removal in Burgas.

The Commission for Personal Data Protection has also been instructed to submit any existing decisions or acts certifying the administration and processing of personal data by studios offering laser hair removal services.

The documentation concerning the acts of establishing violations of the Private Security Services Act in the laser hair removal studios in the city will also be requested from the Police Department of the Ministry of Interior - Burgas.

Alongside this, the institutions concerned are expected to take further action within their respective competences and, where violations are identified, to exercise their legal powers, including assessing whether coercive administrative measures should be imposed.

The Burgas Prosecutor’s Office has opened two pre-trial investigations into the creation of pornographic material in cosmetic studios in the city and its distribution online without the knowledge or consent of clients. Dozens of complaints from affected women have already been filed with the prosecution. Among those recorded is also a minor.

The investigation began after a complaint from a client of a laser treatment studio in the city centre, who discovered that she had been filmed by a camera while undressed during a procedure. She learned about the existence of the intimate footage from friends, who informed her that the videos had been shared in a Telegram group.

On 2 February, the Ministry of Interior carried out an inspection at a second premises in the city. At a subsequent press conference, the Prosecutor's office announced that there was evidence suggesting the two centres were linked.