Court case 8 C 130/18 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2018)
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 person sued for damages after receiving a spam email but the court ruled that minor annoyances like spam don't qualify for compensation under GDPR. This decision shows that not every GDPR violation will lead to damages, especially if the harm is minimal.
What happened
A person sought damages for receiving a spam email but was denied compensation for minimal harm.
Who was affected
The individual who received the spam email and claimed damages.
What the authority found
The court ruled that minimal harm from a GDPR violation, like receiving spam, does not warrant damages.
Why this matters
This case clarifies that minor inconveniences under GDPR, such as receiving spam, may not result in compensation, guiding businesses on the thresholds for damages claims.
GDPR Articles Cited
A person received a spam email and asked from the sender a total amount of damages of EUR 500; the defendant acknowledged the claim in the amount of EUR 50 and the claimant still pursued the claim for an additional amount of at least EUR 500 of immaterial damages. The defendant contested the claim and asked the court to dismiss the claim. The defendant argued that the claimant had not suffered anything more than "minimal" damages. The court held that the infringement of GDPR as such without damages as a consequence thereof will not give rise to a claim for damages and that "minimal damages" do not give raise to damages under Article 82 GDPR. The decision is based on German literature on the GDPR.
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Court case 8 C 130/18 in DE
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case 8 C 130/18 - Germany (2018). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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