Posts tagged #Data Privacy Law
All PostsLimits for Abusive GDPR Requests
Data Privacy LawIn the case at hand, a person living in Austria had signed up for a German optician’s newsletter by entering personal information into the company’s online registration form. Several weeks later, the individual contacted the optician's shop to reques...
One-year deadline for data protection complaints
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) reviewed whether the one-year deadline specified in Section 24(4) of the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz, hereinafter DSG) under national procedural law alig...
Austrian OGH: No Personalised Advertising Without Consent
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has ruled on the conditions under which the processing of Facebook users’ personal data for personalised advertising and third-party tracking is permissible, as set out in Article 15 ...
Supreme Court: Automated credit checks
Data Privacy LawThe Supreme Court (OGH) had to decide whether the automated rejection of certain payment methods (invoice, partial payment) by a mail order company falls under Article 22(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and whether this practice i...
Data Protection: No Shared Responsibility for Employee Access
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) has determined that a municipality does not qualify as a data controller within the meaning of the GDPR when its employees access the Austrian Central Register of Residents ...
Data Protection Authority: Right to Dismiss Excessive Requests?
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) dealt with the question of when the Austrian Data Protection Authority (Datenschutzbehörde, hereinafter DSB) may reject requests in accordance with Article 57 (4) of the Gen...
GER: Anonymity and Trusteeships – Shareholders’ Rights to Information Strengthened
Data Privacy LawAlthough trusteeships are often intended to provide investors with anonymity, this desire is subject to clear limits under company law. In one of its most recent rulings, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) has re...
OGH: Patients’ Rights to Free Medical Records
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has ruled: Patients have a legal right to a free first copy of their entire medical records. The defendant regional organisation is the operator of a hospital where the plaintiff had ...
GER: New Mobility Data Act – Faster Travel Thanks to Better Data
Data Privacy LawThe German Mobility Data Act is designed to make it easier for people to plan their travel routes. Traffic data is a valuable source of information. It can be used to optimise timetables, calculate faster routes, or meet the demand for shared service...
GER: Property Pictures for Ads Require Tenant Permission
Data Privacy LawAn estate agent needs the consent of the property’s tenant(s) if the agent would like to use photos of the property for advertising purposes. Under the General Data Protection Regulation, such pictures are considered personal data. According to the G...
OGH Rules on Photograph Copyrights
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has recently ruled on whether ‘simple’ photographs also benefit from copyright law. The plaintiff was the author of an article for a commemorative publication, in which he had include...
ECJ: Damages for Suspected Data Misuse?
Data Privacy LawStrengthening the rights of consumers, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has once again ruled on non-material damage under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The plaintiffs in the original case were clients of a tax advisory firm and ha...
OGH on the Purpose of Data Protection Laws
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has clarified that the protective purpose of the Data Protection Act does not extend to the right to claim damages from the responsible party for a justified refusal to pay an insuran...
OGH on Data Protection at Work
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has examined whether an employer’s inspection of former employees’ emails is in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Under Article 4(1) of the GDPR, any informatio...
GER: No Compensation for Facebook Scraping Victims
Data Privacy LawFollowing the so-called Facebook scraping cases, there will be no compensation for Facebook users under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to the Higher Regional Court of Hamm, Germany (hereinafter OLG), although there was a bre...
VwGH: Wrong Addressee May End in Repeal without Substitution
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) has ruled that it is legitimate for the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht, hereinafter BVwG) to revoke a decision if it is found that the person to whom...
BVwG: COVID-19 a Mitigating Circumstance in GDPR Violations
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht, hereinafter BVwG) has considered the COVID-19 pandemic and the fear of contagion a mitigating factor in penalties imposed for violating applicable data protection regulations. In th...
OGH on Data Protection Clauses in GTCs
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has declared several data protection clauses in a pay TV providers’ general terms and conditions to be invalid. Data transmission for address matching In an email, the defendant had s...
OGH on the Right of Access under Art 15 GDPR
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has clarified: The framework of Art 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter GDPR) includes the right to information as to whether personal data has been disclosed to...
ECJ: Teachers’ Consent for Live Video Classes?
Data Privacy LawThe European Court of Justice (ECJ) took up the issue of data processing in employment relationships. Do national regulations violate the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)? Backdrop of the case was the introduction of live streaming of video ...
OGH: Disclosing Data Recipients under GDPR
Data Privacy LawIn the case at hand, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) examined a consumer request concerning the disclosing of personal data to third parties. In 2019, the plaintiff had requested information from the defendant about...
OGH on Data Protection Notices
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) held in its decision from 23 November 2022 that a data protection notice taken note of by consumers in a contract’s General Terms and Conditions does not constitute a mere piece of in...
VfGH Overturns Media Data Privilege
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichthof, VfGH) has overturned the media’s privilege provided for in Section 9 (1) of the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz, DSG) as unconstitutional. Lawmakers are now required to adopt a...
Google Fonts: Response by Google
Data Privacy LawIn a blog post dated 18 November 2022, Google responded to the wave of warnings resulting from the embedding of Google fonts. These recent events were the reason for the following statement. To begin with, Google explains that Google Fonts is a libra...
ECJ Advocate General: No Compensation in Data Scandal
Data Privacy LawThe Advocate General stated concerning an Opinion issued by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that, for the recognition of a claim for compensation for damage suffered by an individual as a result of a breach of the General Data Protection Regulati...
Irish Data Protection Imposes EUR 405m Fine on Instagram
Data Privacy LawIn a press release, the Irish Data Protection Commission DPC recently announced that social network Instagram will have to pay a fine of EUR 405 million for publishing personal data of minors in Ireland. The inquiry by the DPC involved the use of per...
Google Ignores ECJ: Complaint Filed with French Data Protection Authority
Data Privacy Lawnoyb.eu has filed a complaint against Google with the French data protection authority (CNIL). Google has repeatedly used its email platform Gmail to send unsolicited advertising emails without valid consent of the users. noyb (None of Your Business)...
OGH: Physicians' Rating Portal is Permissible
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) has declared the processing of personal data of physicians by a rating platform to be permissible. A Vienna ophthalmologist and the Vienna Medical Association sued a physicians' rating platform w...
Wave of complaints about Use of Google Fonts on Corporate Websites
Data Privacy LawRecently, numerous Austrian companies received a letter from a lawyer requesting them to accept a claim for damages and representation costs in the amount of EUR 190.00 based on their use of Google Fonts on their company website and to settle the cla...
EU Parliament Approves Digital Services Act and Digital Market Act
Data Privacy LawOn 07 July 2022, the EU Parliament passed the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. The Digital Services Act provides for uniform horizontal rules on due diligence and liability exclusions for intermediary services. The Digital Markets Ac...
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