UI v. Österreichische Post AG
European Union Court of Justice
Case C-300/21 (2023)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Österreichische Post AG (Österreichische) (defendant), an Austrian company, collected data related to the political leanings of Austrians. Österreichische used an algorithm to infer individuals’ affinities for certain political parties. UI (plaintiff) brought a complaint against Österreichische under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). UI did not allege any material harm but alleged emotional distress on account of knowing that Österreichische had associated him with a particular political party. The Austrian court stayed the proceedings and referred three questions to the European Union Court of Justice: (1) whether, to be entitled to compensation under the GDPR, an applicant must have suffered some sort of harm in addition to the mere infringement of the GDPR; (2) whether the GDPR required some sort of seriousness threshold as to the damages to warrant compensation; and (3) whether it was up to the individual nations to determine the extent of compensation payable under the GDPR.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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