Court case 2 R 192/24h – Court Ruling (Austria, 2024)

The data controller is an online casino-game provider. The data subject set up an account, deposited money and lost it on the website. On 23rd May 2024, the data subject submitted (through his representative) an access request with the controller requesting access to their personal data, and specifically, all deposits and withdrawals and the stakes, wins and losses made on his account. The access request was made through the data subject’s representative, and included an electronically signed power of attorney and a copy of the data subject’s ID. On 26th May 2024, the controller refused the applicant’s request, asking for a handwritten power of attorney signed by the plaintiff in ink. The data subject did not respond to the controller’s response and filed the present action on 5th July 2024 with the Regional Court of Klagenfurt. The data subject sought that the controller be compelled to provide a digital copy of the data requested. On August 1st 2024, the controller sent further communication to the data subject’s representative and, in light of having received notice of the claim filed, deemed there to be a legally valid power of attorney within the meaning of Section 8 RAO and provided the information requested by the data subject on 23rd May. On 9th October, the data subject, having received the requested information, limited the scope of their filing to request only reimbursement of the costs incurred in the court proceeding. The trial court ruled that the controller could not rely on § 45 ZPO, an Austrian Civil Procedure provision which requires plaintiffs in a proceeding to bear the costs of such proceeding where the cause of action is not attributable to the action of the defendant and the defendant immediately acknowledges the claim in action. The controller had argued that this provision should apply as the power of attorney received in May 2024 was invalid. The trial judge ordered the controller to reimburse the data subject for their legal costs, to the