Google Ireland Ltd – Complaint Upheld (Hungary, 2020)

The claimant contacted Google AdWords and asked for the information stored by them in relation to the processing of the personal data related to the claimant's name. Google replied to the claimant stating that they did not know which organizational unit would be able to answer the Claimant's query, and therefore did not provide the Claimant with an answer to his request. The Claimant then filed a complaint against Google with the Hungarian DPA for not complying with his request under Article 15 and with the one month deadline under Article 12(3). Was Google Ireland Ltd in breach of its obligations under GDPR Article 15(1) and Article 12(3) by failing to provide the data subject with their personal data? The DPA held that Google had not provided the Claimant with a substantive response to their data subject request under Article 15 within the one month time frame as specified in Article 12(3). After making this finding, it closed the investigation and did not issue a fine against Google Ireland. The Hungarian DPA also held that it was the main authority in this case, as they only examined the practice of Google Ireland in so far as it had an impact on the rights of data subjects residing in Hungary.