Court case W252 2248630-1 – Court Ruling (Austria, 2023)
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.
An Austrian court ruled that an online store did not force customers to consent to advertising when creating accounts. Customers could buy goods using a guest option, which didn't involve advertising data processing. This decision highlights the importance of offering alternatives to consent for non-essential data processing.
What happened
An online store allowed customers to create accounts for purchases, which included consent for advertising, but also offered a guest option without such consent.
Who was affected
Customers who created accounts with the online store and were concerned about being forced to consent to advertising data processing.
What the authority found
The court found that the online store did not unlawfully force consent for advertising, as customers could use a guest option to make purchases without consenting to data processing for advertising.
Why this matters
This ruling emphasizes that businesses should provide clear alternatives to consent for non-essential data processing. It reassures companies that offering a guest checkout option can be a valid way to respect customer privacy without compromising sales.
GDPR Articles Cited
The data subject created an account with the controller in order to purchase goods online. In this context, they allegedly were forced to give consent to the processing of their personal data for the purpose of advertising. The data subject lodged a complaint with the Austrian DPA. The Austrian DPA declared the processing unlawful. The controller appealed the decision, arguing that the data subject was not actually "forced" to create a customer account to purchase the goods. As a matter of fact, they could have ordered the goods by using a so-called “guest” option, which would not imply any processing for advertising purposes. To the contrary, the creation of a customer account implies that a user wants to have access to discounts and be informed about offers concerning the controller's products. The court upheld the controller’s appeal. Pursuant to Article 4(11) GDPR, consent must be freely given. In light of Article 7(4) GDPR, this is clearly not the case when the conclusion of a contract is made dependent on the data subject’s consent, unless consent is necessary for the performance of the contract. Thus, the court checked the nature of the contract in the case at issue. The court found that it was not possible to separate the creation of an account with the controller from the purchase of goods online. Such an account did not exclusively serve the purpose of sharing offers and discounts with the data subject. The purchase of goods could rather be seen as the main object of the contract. For such a purpose consent to the processing of personal data for advertising was not necessary. The court then checked whether the guest option could be a valid alternative to achieve the object of the agreement. The court rejected the DPA’s argument that the guest option was no valid alternative to the creation of an account with regard to the purchase of online goods. The court acknowledged that the use of a guest option entails an additional effort for the user, namely the
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Court case W252 2248630-1 in AT
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case W252 2248630-1 - Austria (2023). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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