DPA case 2020-0.829.566 – Dismissed (Austria, 2021)

The data subject was active member of a religious community. They also held an official spiritual role within the church. After many years of service, an internal committee held that data subject committed a serious sin and publicly declared that they were no longer a member of the community. The data subject claimed that by this public announcement the controller unlawfully processed their personal data. The data subject also requested access and erasure of some personal data and objected to the processing. The controller claimed that data were processed pursuant to Articles 6(1)(c) and (f) and 9(2)(d) and (f) GDPR. Moreover, a religious organisation enjoys a high degree of autonomy in accordance with the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Treaties. The processing at issue fell therefore outside the State’s competence. The controller also stated to have fully replied to the access request. The data subject claimed that at the time of their baptism they were only 13 and therefore not able to understand all the legal implications of the affiliation for their right to data protection. They also claimed that it would have been sufficient to bring their expulsion to the attention of only two people, without any need for a public announcement. Thus, the data subject lodged a complaint. The Austrian DPA held to have no competence to review “internal matters” of a religious organisation, such as the decision to disclose information about the data subject’s expulsion during a public gathering of the church. For the same reason, the Austrian DPA denied that Article 15 GDPR was applicable. Moreover, in an obiter dictum, the data subject’s claim that information provided was incomplete was rejected. According to the DPA, Article 15(3) GDPR does not give a data subject the right to request entire documents, such as cover and reference letters or the full assessment of someone’s “spiritual status”. It is sufficient that the controller provides the data subj