Court case ROT 20/3286 – Court Ruling (Netherlands, 2021)
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 Dutch court ruled that a woman should receive €2,500 because her medical data was kept for too long, violating her privacy rights. The court found that the hospital's delay in deleting her data caused her emotional harm. This case highlights the importance of respecting individuals' requests to erase personal data promptly.
What happened
A court awarded €2,500 for emotional damages after a hospital delayed deleting a woman's medical data.
Who was affected
The affected person was a woman whose medical records were stored for about ten years despite her requests for deletion.
What the authority found
The court decided the hospital breached the woman's privacy rights by not erasing her data sooner, causing emotional harm.
Why this matters
This ruling emphasizes that organizations must promptly respond to data deletion requests to avoid causing emotional harm. It serves as a reminder for businesses to respect privacy rights and manage personal data responsibly.
GDPR Articles Cited
National Law Articles
The plaintiff made a request for the erasure of her medical data from her file in 2014 and another request in 2017. Both were denied by the defendant. In 2018 however, the defendant revoked this decision and deleted the data. The plaintiff claimed to be entitled to compensation for immaterial and material damages of at least €25,000 based on the GDPR. The Court held that the plaintiff is entitled to compensation for immaterial damages because the defendant breached the right to respect for private and family life of the plaintiff by storing and processing the data. The Court deemed such a breach a harm in person as stated in Article 6:106 (1)(b) Dutch Civil Code which is a legal ground for compensation of immaterial damages. To determine the compensation sum, the Court took into account that the records were stored for about ten years and that the plaintiff had made several request for erasure of the data. The Court found it sufficiently plausible that during these ten years, several people and authorities could have taken note of the data without being entitled to do so. Therefore, the plaintiff suffered immaterial damages. Considering in another Dutch case (ECLI:NL:RVS:2020:898), a sum of 500 euros was granted for unlawful processing of data for a short period of time, the Court held that a sum of €2500 euros should be granted to the plaintiff. The Court held that the plaintiff was not harmed in her career or suffered a loss of income due to the processing of the records. Therefore, the Court rejected the plaintiff's request for compensation of material damages.
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Court case ROT 20/3286 in NL
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case ROT 20/3286 - Netherlands (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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