- Enforcing jurisdiction
- Sweden · Geography does not establish applicable law.
- Confirmed applicable legislation
- Privacy topics
DPA case DI-2020-10547 – Complaint Upheld (Sweden, 2022)
Privacy enforcement record
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A Swedish company mistakenly sent marketing emails to a user who had opted out of receiving them. After the user complained, the company corrected the mistake but was still found to have violated data protection rules. This case emphasizes the importance of respecting user preferences in marketing communications.
What happened
The company sent marketing emails to a user who had declined to receive them.
Who was affected
The user who registered for the company's service but opted out of marketing emails.
What the authority found
The Swedish Data Protection Authority upheld the complaint, highlighting that the company failed to respect the user's choice.
Why this matters
This ruling reinforces that companies must honor user preferences regarding marketing communications. Businesses should regularly review their email practices to avoid similar issues.
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Automated check recorded — 18 October 2026.
Processing notes: articles corrected.
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Prompted by a complaint, the Swedish DPA initiated supervision pursuant to Article 56 GDPR in accordance with the Article 60 GDPR cooperation mechanism. The handover of the complaint was made by a German DPA, where the data subject lodged his complaint. The concerned supervisory authorities were located in Germany, Norway, Spain, Denmark, Poland, Italy, and Portugal. The concerned controller provided a subscription service for the digital distribution of newspapers and magazines in an app. On 5 November 2019, the data subject registered as a customer and user of the controller’s service but simultaneously declined to receive e-mails from the controller. Nevertheless, in the following days the data subject received e-mails from the controller. The data subject stated in the complaint that the date of the infringement was 12 November 2019. It was not until the data subject contacted the company's customer service on 28 November 2019 that the controller stopped sending e-mails. The controller confirmed that the data subject contacted it on 28 November 2019. It sent the data subject an e-mail on 29 November 2019, confirming that the data subject's e-mail address was unsubscribed from all future e-mails. The controller further stated that the mistake was caused by human error and fixed as soon as the data subject reached out. The controller claimed that the legal basis for processing of mailing was either based on the performance of contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR) or legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR), if the mailing was considered marketing. First, the DPA pointed out the applicable provisions. It noted that the processing of personal data must meet at least one of the conditions set out in Article 6(1) GDPR. Also, the DPA considered the rights of data subjects to object to processing of their personal data. Namely, according to Article 21(1) GDPR, the data subject shall have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data relating to him
Outcome
Complaint Upheld
A data subject complaint that was upheld by the DPA.
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for DPA case DI-2020-10547 in SE
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. DPA case DI-2020-10547 - Sweden (2022). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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