The first remedy in the EU for unlawful processing of personal data Agnieszka Rapcewicz November GDPR step by step – part financial penalties and liability of the data controller CATEGORIES Data protection GDPR According to the website https digital.freshfields.com post fth can i claim damages for hurt feelings under gdpr an austrian court says yes the Austrian court was the first to Europe – awarded compensation for harm suffered by a natural person as a result of unlawful processing of his or her personal data.
At first glance the awarded amount seems small EUR the plaintiff demanded EUR . Interestingly however the case in question is the result of a fine recently imposed by the Austrian Personal Data Protection Authority Phone Number List on the Austrian Post Office Österreichische Post AG hereinafter referred to as " ÖPAG " based on the GDPR. So it probably won't end with one lawsuit. The fine is as much as EUR million and the violation affected approximately million customers.
What was the violation ÖPAG a the political sympathies of its million customers. According to information available in the media the punished entity allegedly used profiling to assess how the political preferences of individual people corresponded to the political parties present on the Austrian political scene. Additionally as determined by the Austrian data protection authority the company also processed data on the frequency of parcels and relocation for direct marketing purposes. Natural persons whose data were subject to the processing described above were not to be informed in any way about this fact nor did they consent to such activities. In some cases data processed by ÖPAG was also sold to third parties.