Maximilian Schrems – Court Ruling (Austria, 2025)

The data subject, Max Schrems, was a user of a social networking platform operated by Meta (Facebook/Instagram). He filed twelve claims against Meta alleging violations of the GDPR, seeking clarification of data processing roles, assessment of the legality of certain processing activities, access to his personal data, and €500 in non-material damages. Since 2011, the data subject had attempted to obtain full access to his personal data, but Meta only provided partial access. The data subject argued that Meta unlawfully processed his personal and sensitive data, failed to provide full access to all personal data upon request, and collected personal data from users through social plugins, third-party apps, and websites using them for personalized advertising without consent. The proceedings were initiated in 2014 and extended over a period of approximately 11 years, involving several judicial bodies. The Regional Civil Court in Vienna initially declined jurisdiction on two occasions, taking the view that the data subject did not qualify as a consumer in relation to his private account. In later decisions, the court [https://noyb.eu/sites/default/files/2020-06/Urteil%20FB_geschw%C3%A4rzt.pdf cited] [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62021CJ0446 uncertainty regarding jurisdiction under the GDPR]. During the course of the proceedings, the Austrian Supreme Court submitted [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62021CJ0446 two questions to the European Court of Justice (CJEU).] In 2021, the Supreme Court issued a [https://noyb.eu/sites/default/files/2020-12/BVI-209_blackened_en.pdf partial judgment], awarding data subject €500 in damages, while leaving the remaining claims undecided until the ECJ rulings were available. The Austrian Supreme Court has now ruled on the remaining points of the appeal. The Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) ruled that Meta must provide data subject full access to all personal data processed about him. Th