Data protection
All Updates
Cases selected for updating the Case-Law Guide.
Casarini v. Italy (dec.), no. 25578/11
Alleged failure of the State to prevent the misuse and abuse, by the Revenue Police and by various other entities, of personal data stored in the Taxpayer Information Service database.
Decision | Legal Summary
Le Marrec v. France (dec.), no. 52319/22
Collection and use of applicant’s IP address during his log-on to the website of the Family Allowances Office, disclosing his location.
Decision | Legal Summary
A.P. v. Armenia, no. 58737/14
Publication of applicant’s full name and address together with complete texts of judicial decisions dismissing her civil damages claim for sexual abuse.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Pietrzak and Bychawska-Siniarska and Others v. Poland, nos. 72038/17 and 25237/18
Inadequate safeguards against arbitrariness and abuse in legislation on measures for secret surveillance, retention of and access to communications data.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Borislav Toncev împotriva Bulgariei, nr. 40519/15
Păstrarea pe termen nelimitat a datelor privind sancțiunea administrativă alternativă aplicată reclamantului.
Hotărâre
Moldovan v. Ukraine, no. 62020/14
Rejection of the applicant’s civil action for judicial recognition of a deceased person as his father.
Judgment
L.F. v. France (dec.), nos. 3866/20 and 9292/20
Refusal to remove personal data from criminal file (compiled records of prior criminal complaints by the applicant) and the impossibility of obtaining the early deletion of that data.
Decision
Podchasov v. Russia, no. 33696/19
Statutory requirement to provide law-enforcement authorities access to communications data and to decrypt encrypted communications.
Judgment
Ramadan v. France (dec.), no. 23443/23
Disclosure of the identity of the victim of an alleged rape, by the presumed perpetrator, pending criminal proceedings against him.
Decision
N.F. and Others v. Russia, nos. 3537/15 and 8 others
Processing of the applicants’ personal data in respect of discontinued criminal proceedings or criminal convictions that have been lifted or became spent.
Judgment
Hurbain v. Belgium [GC], no. 57292/16
Newspaper publisher ordered to anonymise the online archived version of a lawful article published twenty years earlier, on grounds of the “right to be forgotten”.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Burando Holding B.V. and Port Invest B.V. v. the Netherlands, nos. 3124/16 and 3205/16 (pending before the GC)
Transmission and use in competition law proceedings of data lawfully obtained through telephone tapping in criminal investigations.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Janssen de Jong Groep B.V. and Others v. the Netherlands, no. 2800/16 (pending before the GC)
Transmission and use in competition law proceedings of data lawfully obtained through telephone tapping in criminal investigations.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Ships Waste Oil Collector B.V. v. the Netherlands, no. 2799/16 (pending before the GC)
Transmission and use in competition law proceedings of data lawfully obtained through telephone tapping in criminal investigations.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Finland, no. 31172/19
Decision prohibiting Jehovah’s Witnesses religious community from collecting and processing personal data during door-to-door preaching without data subjects’ consent.
Judgment | Legal Summary
L.B. v. Hungary [GC], no. 36345/16
Publication of applicant’s identifying data on tax authority website portal.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Mitov and Others v. Bulgaria (dec.), no. 80857/17
Journalists' access to judicial information on court's online database. Applicability of Article 10.
Decision | Legal Summary
Florindo de Almeida Vasconcelos Gramaxo v. Portugal, no. 26968/16
Use of GPS data on a medical representative’s company vehicle as grounds for dismissal. Applicability and merits.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Drelon v. France, nos. 3153/16 and 27758/18
Collection and retention of personal data concerning blood donor candidate.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Y.G. v. Russia, no. 8647/12
Disclosure of applicant’s health data through a database made available for sale to the public in a market.
Judgment | Legal Summary
M.D. and Others v. Spain, no. 36584/17
Police report on group of serving judges who signed a manifesto on the Catalan people’s “right to decide”, consisting of information partially extracted from police ID database.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Haščák v. Slovakia, nos. 58359/12 and 2 others
Surveillance operation by national intelligence service and the protection of those randomly affected.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Mediengruppe Österreich GmbH v. Austria, no. 37713/18
Newspaper prohibited from publishing image with “convicted neo-Nazi” caption, 20 years after plaintiff’s conviction, since expunged.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Nuh Uzun and Others v. Turkey, nos. 49341/18 and 13 others
The uploading of prisoners’ correspondence to a judicial IT server.
Judgment
Šeks v. Croatia, no. 39325/20
Denial of access to classified presidential records on national security grounds.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Adomaitis v. Lithuania, no. 14833/18
Telephone tapping during criminal intelligence investigation against a prison director and disclosure in disciplinary proceedings leading to his dismissal.
Judgment
Ekimdzhiev and Others v. Bulgaria, no. 70078/12
Secret surveillance regime, retention of communications data by communications service providers and accessing of retained data by the authorities.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Samoylova v. Russia, no. 49108/11
Disclosure on TV of applicant’s address, tax identification number, images of house interior and declared income. Applicability and merits.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Standard Verlagsgesellschaft mbH v. Austria (no. 3), no. 39378/15
Anonymous authors of online comments and duty of the host provider, a media company, to disclose their personal data.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Biancardi v. Italy, no. 77419/16
Continued Internet access to an article containing personal data, not concerning a public or political figure.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Särgava v. Estonia, no. 698/19
The protection of privileged digitally stored data of a lawyer pursued for acts in another capacity.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Vasil Vasilev v. Bulgaria, no. 7610/15
The quality of the law regarding accidentally intercepted lawyer-client communications.
Judgment
Willems v. the Netherlands (dec.), no. 57294/16
Storage of digitised fingerprints in a database when applying for a passport.
Decision
Stokłosa v. Poland (dec.), no. 68562/14
Disclosure by trial judge of applicant's illness at a public hearing.
Decision
Volodina v. Russia (no. 2), no. 40419/19
Online violence including non-consensual publication of intimate photographs.
Judgment | Legal Summary
M.P. v. Portugal, no. 27516/14
Ex-husband accessed his wife’s emails and submitted them into evidence in separation proceedings.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Akgün v. Turkey, no. 19699/18
Allegations of terrorism based on use of encrypted messaging service.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Zoltán Varga v. Slovakia, nos. 58361/12 and 2 others
Surveillance operation by intelligence service and collection of material.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Hájovský v. Slovakia, no. 7796/16
Publication of private information and non-blurred images of private individual, taken covertly and under false pretences.
Judgment | Legal Summary
J.L. v. Italy, no. 5671/16
Disclosure in the context of judicial proceedings of elements of private and intimate life of the victim.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Big Brother Watch and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 58170/13 and 2 others
Bulk interception of cross-border communications. Receipt of intelligence from foreign services. Acquisition of communications data from services providers.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Centrum för rättvisa v. Sweden [GC], no. 35232/08
Bulk interception of cross-border communications and safeguards against abuse.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Liebscher v. Austria, no. 5434/17
Divorce settlement data on finances, income and property, custody and place of residence of children, to be stored in official register accessible to the public. Applicability and merits.
Judgment
Sedletska v. Ukraine, no. 42634/18
Judicial authorisation of access to the phone data of a journalist (protection of journalistic sources).
Judgment
M.C. v. the United Kingdom, no. 51220/13
Disclosure of the applicant’s criminal record.
Judgment
Mik and Jovanović v. Serbia (dec.), nos. 9291/14 and 63798/14
Mechanism (including DNA data base) to determine true status and provide redress for all parents of missing newborn children.
Decision | Legal Summary
Yuriy Chumak v. Ukraine, no. 23897/10
Denial of access to restricted presidential decrees. Applicability and merits.
Judgment
Hassine v. Romania, no. 36328/13
Expulsion on national-security grounds and the protection of procedural rights.
Judgment
Gawlik v. Liechtenstein, no. 23922/19
Dismissal of doctor for accusing colleague of active euthanasia.
Judgment | Legal Summary
Frâncu v. Romania, no. 69356/13
Protection of medical data in the context of a pre-trial detention of a public figure.
Judgment | Legal Summary