Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A – €1,000,000 Fine (Italy, 2023)

In October 2021, Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A. (a public concession for the management of motorway services) signed a settlement agreement with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport providing for the implementation of compensation measures for motorway users, including discounts/refunds on toll rates, in view of the delays caused by construction sites on highways managed by the company. Following this agreement, Free to X, a company owned by Autostrade, was entrusted by the latter with the development and management of a cashback app that would allow users to request a total or partial refund of their toll costs. Both companies agreed that Free to X would be the considered as the controller since it would have "full and autonomous decision-making powers" regarding the purposes and the means of the data processing activities. Free to X launched the homonymous app still in 2021 and the total number of users registered that year was 308,058. Subsequently, Assoutenti, a consumer association, raised some concerns with the Italian DPA regarding personal data processing activities carried out through the app. The DPA opened an investigation and requested information from Autostrade, as the controller. In response, the controller argued that it did not act as a controller, as it limited itself "only to determining the purpose" of the app, without intervening in any way on related purposes and means. However, it committed "to change its role, attributing to itself the controlership of the processing of data relating to the cashback service" and to "amend the app's privacy policy and terms and conditions". Finally, Austostrade stated that it could inform all the app users about the changes by email. First, DPA highlighted that the reimbursement mechanism (cashback app) was chosen by Austostrade as a way to implement the compensatory measures provided for by the agreement signed with the Ministry and that the company was also defining the methods for the fulfillment