Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic – Court Ruling (Czech Republic, 2024)

A journalist (‘data subject’) demanded an apology in relation to himself and to the citizens of the Czech Republic (‘CZ’) from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the CZ (‘controller’) as a compensation for the non-material damages suffered as a result of the incorrect transposition of Directive 2002/58 of the European Parliament and of the Council /EC of 12 July 2002 on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (‘e-Privacy Directive’ or ‘Directive’). According to the Czech law transposing the Directive, operators of electronic communications and public networks must store a variety of user communication information for six months, primarily to aid in the investigation of criminal and misdemeanor activates. The incorrect transposition of the Directive allegedly led to the widespread collection and processing of operation and location data of users' the electronic communications. In this case, the data subject saw an interference with his rights to privacy and informational self-determination. Before filing the lawsuit, the data subject tried unsuccessfully to obtain the erasure of data stored on him through a mobile operator and later through the Czech DPA. The DPA stated that, in their opinion, it is indisputable that the national legislation issue (§ 97 paragraph 3 of Act No. 127/2005 Coll.) is not in accordance with Article 15 ePrivacy Directive. According to the Directive, Member States may enact laws to limit certain rights outlined in the Directive, including data retention, if it is necessary for national security, defense, public safety, or crime prevention, in line with EU principles. However, the complaint was rejected by the DPA. Nevertheless, the data subject brought the DPA's opinion to the controller's attention who rejected it claiming that this transposition of the Directive cannot be considered as 'improper official procedure' according to Act No. 82/1998 Coll., on liability for da