Court case 1 S 27/22 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2022)

The controller published a judgement produced by a local court which included the full names and addresses of the data subjects. It also published an agenda of a municipal council meeting which contained the names of the data subjects several times. Both documents were made available on the controller's homepage. The Court was of the opinion that the controller violated Article 5(1)(a) GDPR by publishing the personal data online. In considering whether the data subjects should consequently be entitled to compensation under Article 82(1) GDPR, the Court expressed its opinion that the mere loss of control over one's data does not constitute non-material damage. The Court reasoned that the concept of non-material damage should require that a certain threshold of inconvenience is crossed. It therefore deemed that not every unlawful processing of personal data should lead to a claim under Article 82(1) GDPR. The Court stayed the proceedings and requested a preliminary ruling by the CJEU on whether the concept of non-material damage requires that the data subject suffers a noticeable disadvantage and an objectively determinable impairment of their interests or whether a mere short-term loss of control over their data suffices.