Applicant unknown – Court Ruling (Netherlands, 2021)

== Facts == The case concerns whether the refusal of the municipality of Langedijk to delete data on a minor contained in its youth assistance record was lawful. The request was made by the minor's mother, acting on behalf of her child. In the Netherlands, municipalities are responsible under the Youth Act (Jeugdwet) for providing what is known as youth assistance (Jeugdhulp). The municipalities must provide support for children under the age of 18 who, for example, have problems in the family, are struggling with mental health problems and similar. Anyone, citizen, or a public authority who is concerned about the wellbeing of a child can file a report of concern (zorgmelding) with the municipality. In this case, the municipality of Langedijk had received an unspecified number of reports of concern regarding the minor in recent years, which is why there is a file on the minor. The mother demanded that the municipality delete all the data it had on the minor in the file. Almost two months later, the municipality informed her that the request was complex and would take another two months to process. Less than 4 months after the original request, the municipality responded that it could not delete the requested data. The municipality took the position that it was legally required to retain the data, with the exception of two emails. As a result, the mother and the minor challenged the decision in court under Article 35(1) of the Dutch Act implementing the GDPR (UAVG).