Austrian Post – €9,500,000 Fine (Austria, 2021)

€9,500,000Datenschutzbehörde28 September 2021Austria
final
Fine

General GDPR enforcement action

This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.

The Austrian Post was fined EUR 9.5 million for not allowing data protection inquiries via email. They only offered a contact form, which the Austrian DPA found insufficient. This case shows the need for companies to offer multiple ways for people to contact them about their data rights.

What happened

Austrian Post was fined for not allowing data protection inquiries via email.

Who was affected

Individuals trying to make data protection inquiries to Austrian Post.

What the authority found

The Austrian DPA decided that only offering a contact form for data inquiries violated GDPR Article 12(2).

Why this matters

This highlights the need for businesses to provide various communication options for data inquiries. Companies should ensure that their contact methods align with GDPR standards to avoid penalties.

GDPR Articles Cited

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Art. 12(2) GDPR
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Art. 12(2) GDPR

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Full Legal Summary
Detailed

The Austrian DPA imposed a fine of EUR 9.5 million on the Austrian Post on September 28, 2021. The main accusation is that, in addition to the contact options used by Austrian Post via mail, web contact form and customer service, data protection-related inquiries should also be allowed via e-mail. According to the newspaper 'Der Standard', the Austrian Post had only introduced a contact form for data protection inquiries, in order to automate the process of inquiries and to obtain all information necessary for processing the inquiries.

Details

Fine Date

28 September 2021

Authority

Datenschutzbehörde

Fine Amount

€9,500,000

Enforcement Tracker ID

ETid-871

About this data

Data: CMS GDPR Enforcement Tracker
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified

Cite as: Cookie Fines. Austrian Post - Austria (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

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