Data Protection Commission (DPC) – Court Ruling (Ireland, 2026)

On 25 May 2018, Michael Veale, the data subject, submitted an access and data portability request to Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (MPIL) (then Facebook Ireland Limited), the controller. He requested access to all personal data concerning him stored in the controller's internal "Hive" data warehouse under Article 15 GDPR, including the data in raw form and information on its processing. He also requested relevant personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format under Article 20 GDPR. On 19 July 2018, the controller refused to provide the raw Hive data. Among other grounds, it relied on Article 12(5) GDPR, Article 15(4) GDPR and Article 20(4) GDPR. The data subject subsequently lodged a complaint with the Data the DPA arguing that the controller had failed to comply with his rights under Articles 15 and 20 GDPR and had unjustifiably relied on restrictions to those rights. On 27 July 2018, the DPA opened a complaint-based inquiry under [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/contents Section 110(1) Data Protection Act 2018]. The inquiry examined the controller's compliance with its obligations concerning the data subject's request. During the investigation, the controller explained that its approach to Hive data was generally applicable to its users and argued, inter alia, that extracting user-specific log-level data from Hive was computationally unfeasible. In August 2023, the DPA issued its Final Inquiry Report. The investigator considered that the controller had failed to provide the data subject with information required under Article 15(1)(a), (d) and (g) GDPR. On 10 October 2025, the DPA issued a preliminary draft decision (PDD). It provisionally found that the controller had infringed Article 15(1) and (3) GDPR by refusing access to and a copy of relevant personal data; Article 15(1)(a), (d) and (g) GDPR by providing inadequate information; Article 20(1) GDPR by refusing to provide relevant portable data; and Article 12(3) and (4)