Privacy activists warn against removing compensation for data protection breaches
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a non-binding opinion, which privacy advocates fear could further limit users’ possibilities to enforce their privacy rights under the GDPR.
According to the opinion delivered last week, Europeans would hardly get compensated if their rights are violated under the General Data Protection Regulation, even though the EU’s data protection rulebook foresees a claim for non-material damages.
The opinion came in reaction to an Austrian case where the national postal service illegally calculated the political affiliation of millions of Austrians in violation of the GDPR. Names, addresses and birth dates were used as their algorithm’s underlying data.
“This case is deeply troubling. If the view of the Austrian Supreme Court and the Advocate General prevails, most users will never see compensation for GDPR violations anymore,” Max Schrems said.
Source: Privacy activists warn against removing compensation for data protection breaches – EURACTIV.com
