Belgian DPA – Court Ruling (Belgium, 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 Belgian telecom provider mistakenly assigned a customer's phone number to someone else, allowing that person to access the customer's calls and accounts. The Belgian DPA initially fined the provider, but later withdrew the decision, leading the court to dismiss the case. This shows the importance of telecom companies ensuring accurate number assignments to protect customer privacy.
What happened
A telecom provider wrongly assigned a customer's phone number to a third party, compromising the customer's privacy.
Who was affected
The affected individual was a telecom customer whose phone number was assigned to another person.
What the authority found
The court ruled that the Belgian DPA's decision to fine the telecom provider was withdrawn, and the case was dismissed.
Why this matters
This case highlights the need for telecom companies to have robust processes to prevent misassignments of phone numbers. It also illustrates the procedural complexities that can arise in privacy enforcement actions.
National Law Articles
The complaint concerned the alleged assignment of the plaintiff's mobile phone number by his telecom provider to a third party, as a result of which the complainant could no longer use his number. The plaintiff's SIM card was deactivated and the third party was therefore able to view the plaintiff's personal mobile phone traffic and calls, as well as linked accounts (such as Paypal, WhatsApp and Facebook) from 16 to 19 September 2019. The Belgian DPA imposed an administrative fine of 25 000 EUR to a telecom provider in its decision of 22 January 2021 This decision was challenged before the Court of Appeal on 19 February 2021. However, the Belgian DPA withdrew the above decision on 19 May 2021, reopened the proceedings before the litigation chamber and invited the parties to submit new arguments. The telco operator argued that Belgian DPA of process abuse and states that referral to the litigation chamber Chamber is a violation of article 13 of the Constitution and the provision of an effective remedy and the fair administration of justice. On top of that, the telco operator asked the court to grant increased litigation costs to the telco company considering: - the increased attorney's fees; - delay of justice and legal uncertainty; - the situation's apparent unreasonable character: The Belgian DPA waited until the last moment to revoke the decision, where the case for pleadings was fixed on 2 June 2021. The Court ruled that: - the decision of the Belgian DPA retroactively disappears from the legal order; - the complainant's claim is without object and is therefore rejected; - the Belgian DPA is ordered to pay litigation costs and court fees
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Belgian DPA in BE
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Belgian DPA - Belgium (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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