First GDPR fine issued by Austrian data protection regulator

Austrian Data Protection Authority (“DSB”) has issued a fine against an entrepreneur for violations of the GDPR. The entrepreneur had installed a CCTV camera in front of his establishment that also recorded a large part of the sidewalk. The DSB found this act to be in violation of the GDPR, as large-scale monitoring of public spaces is not permitted under the GDPR. Apparently the camera was also not sufficiently marked as conducting video surveillance, meaning that the applicable transparency obligations had not been fulfilled.

The amount of the fine, however, was quite moderate: EUR 4,800. According to the deputy director of the DSB, fines should be proportionate – e.g. a controller with an annual income of, for example, EUR 40,000 is unlikely to receive a EUR 20 million fine from the DSB.

Source: First GDPR fine issued by Austrian data protection regulator, Gernot Fritz