Court case 202201620/1/A3 – Court Ruling (Netherlands, 2023)

The data subject’s home was photographed in 2012 for the purposes of a tax valuation, under the Property Valuation Act. The photographs were initially processed lawfully (for tax valuation), but then afterwards put in a database and used for other purposes. The Municipal Executive of Breda (the controller) held these photographs and initially was the body responsible for tax valuations. In 2019, the Municipal Executive of Breda transferred these responsibilities to the West Brabant Tax Authority of Breda, which then became the competent public body for handling tax valuations in Breda. On 26 April 2020, the data subject (appellant) requested the Municipal Executive of Breda (the controller) to erase the photographs from their internal database. The photographs were focused on the architectural features of the home and the overall state of the property. However, from these photographs, the data subject’s license plate could be seen, as well as framed family photographs in the home. On 15 May 2020, the Municipal Executive of Breda refused to erase the photographs, because the database that they were held in was transferred to the West Brabant Tax Authority of Breda and erased from the Municipal Executive’s systems. The data subject objected to the Municipal Executive’s refusal and made a formal complaint against the Municipal Executive’s decision through its internal disputes system. On 24 November 2020, the Municipal Executive declared the claim unfounded and rejected the data subject’s request for damages. On 4 February 2022, the data subject appealed the Municipal Executive’s decision in court. The Court dismissed the appeal and declared the case inapplicable. The data subject appealed this decision. On 4 July 2023 the appeal was declared admissible by the Netherlands’s Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State (the country’s highest administrative court). The Court’s decision addressed two key issues, the applicability of the GDPR to th