Court case W2522299666-1/6E – Court Ruling (Austria, 2024)

Court Ruling
DPA BVwG27 November 2024Austria
final
Court Ruling

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.

A court in Austria ruled that a public body unlawfully accessed a person's vaccination records without proper consent. This decision is significant because it reinforces the importance of confidentiality and proper data handling by organizations. It serves as a reminder for all businesses to ensure they have a legal basis for processing personal data.

What happened

A public body accessed an individual's vaccination records without a valid legal basis.

Who was affected

The individual whose vaccination records were accessed without their consent.

What the authority found

The Austrian data protection authority found that the public body violated the individual's right to confidentiality by unlawfully processing their data.

Why this matters

This case highlights the need for organizations to have clear legal grounds for accessing personal data. It serves as a warning that improper handling of personal information can lead to serious consequences.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

View original scraped data
Art. 77(1) GDPR

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

National Law Articles

AI-identified

§1(2) DSG
§22(4) DSG
§30(5) DSG
§24(1) DSG
§24(5) DSG
Decision AuthorityFederal Administrative Court (BVwG)
Reviewed AuthorityDatenschutzbehörde (DSB)
Source verified 21 April 2026
national law identified
authority corrected
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

A public-law body (the data controller) sent a letter to an individual (the data subject) inviting them to receive a Covid-19 vaccination. On 14 December 2021, the data subject submitted a complaint with the Datenschutzbehörde (hereinafter DSB/data protection authority), alleging that the controller had violated their right to confidentiality of personal data under §1(2) DSG since they could not establish how the controller obtained information about their vaccination. Following a series of proceedings conducted against the wrong responsible party, the data subject identified the correct controller through a letter dated 01 August 2024. In particular, the data subject requested: (i) a finding of a violation of their fundamental rights; (ii) a prohibition of further data processing under §22(4) DSG; and (iii) the imposition of a fine. Decision of the Data Protection Authority (DSB) By means of a decision rendered on 03 September 2024, the DSB upheld the complaint in part. Firstly, it held that the controller had unlawfully accessed and processed the data subject’s records from the central vaccination register and central patient index. In the absence of a legal basis in accordance with §1 para. 2 DSG, the DSB maintained that the data subject’s right to confidentiality was infringed upon. Secondly, the DSB dismissed the request for prohibition of processing given that the processing had already been completed and therefore fell short of the standard stipulated under §22 para 4 DSG. Thirdly, it rejected the request for a fine for two-fold reasons: the data subject held no subject right to demand one, and fines cannot be imposed on bodies of public law under §30(5) DSG. The data subject subsequently appealed the decision to the Federal Administrative Court on grounds that they found it “outrageous” that their vaccination data had been shared. Despite a court order issued on 02 October 2024 to clarify their grounds of appeal, the data subject did not submit further st

Outcome

Court Ruling

A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.

Related Cases (0)

No other cases found for Court case W2522299666-1/6E in AT

This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Ruling Date

27 November 2024

Authority

DPA BVwG

About this data

Data: GDPRhub (noyb.eu)
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified

Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case W2522299666-1/6E - Austria (2024). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

Report Inaccuracy

Last updated: