Belgian DPA – Court Ruling (Belgium, 2021)

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