Google Ireland Ltd. – Court Ruling (Germany, 2022)
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 German court ruled on a case where a freelance artist wanted her personal information removed from Google's Local Listing. Although Google eventually deleted the information, the court decided she wasn't entitled to compensation but could ask for future protection against her data being shared again. This case highlights the importance of understanding your rights to control personal information online.
What happened
Google displayed a freelance artist's personal information on its Local Listing without her consent, and she sought its removal.
Who was affected
The freelance artist whose personal information, like her phone number and address, was shared on Google's Local Listing.
What the authority found
The court found that while the artist's request for data deletion was justified, she wasn't entitled to compensation, but could demand future protection against data disclosure.
Why this matters
This ruling emphasizes that individuals can demand the removal of their personal data from online listings but may not always receive compensation. It serves as a reminder for businesses to respect data removal requests promptly to avoid legal issues.
GDPR Articles Cited
The data subject is a freelance artist. She is in a dispute with Google Ireland Limited about her entry in Google Local Listing, a service displaying local business listings on a map on Googles first page results. On her website she disclosed information about her private life, including personal data such as phone number and address. Google Local Listing processed the information from that website and disclosed them on Google Maps or in a sidebar in Google Search. The data subject used a web form provided by Google LCC and requested the deletion of the entry. The deletion request was ignored at first by the defendant. Subsequently, the data subject's attorney submitted a written warning and an injunctive relief. The data subject also demanded the compensation of her attorneys fees. Google subsequently deleted the entry without signing the injunctive relief and without compensation. The data subject argued that the disclosure of her personal data occurred without her cooperation and that data protection law entitled her to receive an injunctive relief from the defendant. The lower regional court in Munich (Landgericht München I) took the view that, although the data subjects demand of deletion was justified, Article 17(1) GDPR supported no indemnification claim – the court rejected her demand of compensation. The court decided further that Article 17(1) GDPR is not only an entitlement of removal, but also an entitlement of injunctive relief, because an injunctive relief could counter a potential risk of recurrence. Therefore, the data subject is entitled to demand an injunctive relief. The lower court convicted the defendant to refrain from any future disclose the personal data of the data subject in the Local Listing service. The defendant appealed the decision of the lower court. The Higher Regional Court Munich (Oberlandesgericht München) overturned the decision of the lower court and dismissed the data subjects claim for an injunctive relief. The Higher Regi
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Google Ireland Ltd. in DE
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Google Ireland Ltd. - Germany (2022). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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