Case C-507/23, Patērētāju tiesību aizsardzības centrs: Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 4 October 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Augstākā tiesa (Senāts) – Latvia) – A v Patērētāju tiesību aizsardzības centrs (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Protection of personal data – Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – Article 82(1) – Right to compensation and liability – Unlawful processing of data – Infringement of the right to protection of personal data – Concept of damage – Compensation for non-material damage in the form of apologies – Whether permissible – Principle of effectiveness – Assessment of the form and level of compensation – Whether possible to take into consideration the attitude and motivation of the controller)
Date: 2024-10-04
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: data protection, data-processing law, indemnification, personal data, protection of privacy








C_202406899EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/6899


25.11.2024






Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 4 October 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Augstākā tiesa (Senāts) – Latvia) – A v Patērētāju tiesību aizsardzības centrs


(Case C-507/23,
                (1)
Patērētāju tiesību aizsardzības centrs)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Protection of personal data - Regulation (EU) 2016/679 - Article 82(1) - Right to compensation and liability - Unlawful processing of data - Infringement of the right to protection of personal data - Concept of ‘damage’ - Compensation for non-material damage in the form of apologies - Whether permissible - Principle of effectiveness - Assessment of the form and level of compensation - Whether possible to take into consideration the attitude and motivation of the controller)
(C/2024/6899)
Language of the case: Latvian

Referring court

Augstākā tiesa (Senāts)

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: A

Defendant: Patērētāju tiesību aizsardzības centrs

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 82(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), read in the light of Article 8(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
must be interpreted as meaning that an infringement of the provisions of that regulation is not sufficient, in itself, to constitute ‘damage’ within the meaning of Article 82(1).










2.


Article 82(1) of Regulation 2016/679
must be interpreted as meaning that the making of an apology may constitute sufficient compensation for non-material damage on the basis of that provision, inter alia where it is impossible to restore the situation that existed prior to the occurrence of that damage, provided that that form of redress is such as to compensate in full the damage suffered by the data subject.










3.


Article 82(1) of Regulation 2016/679
must be interpreted as precluding the taking into account of the attitude and motivation of the controller in order, where relevant, to award compensation to the data subject that is lower than the damage he or she has actually suffered.






(1)  
            OJ C 125, 16.10.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/6899/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)