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Legal Newsdesk Sweden AB – CJEU Judgment (European Union, 2025)
CJEU judgment — not a DPA enforcement action
This is a Court of Justice ruling, not an enforcement action by a data protection authority. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on how Swedish law interacts with GDPR. It found that certain journalistic activities can be exempt from GDPR rules if they have a publication certificate. This means that people may have limited options to seek remedies when their data is used for journalism.
What happened
The Court ruled that Swedish law allows for broad exemptions from GDPR for journalistic activities covered by a publication certificate.
Who was affected
Individuals whose personal data is processed for journalistic purposes under Swedish law.
What the authority found
The Court decided that GDPR does not apply when it conflicts with the constitutional protection provided by a publication certificate.
Why this matters
This ruling highlights the balance between freedom of expression and data protection. It suggests that companies involved in journalism should be aware of these exemptions to GDPR.
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Automated check recorded — 21 March 2026.
Processing notes: national law identified, authority corrected.
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= Under Swedish lawYttrandefrihetsgrundlagen (1991:1469) (Constitutional Law on freedom of expression). the Swedish Agency for the Media can issue publications certificates which confers constitutional protection to the activities of the holder. Such certificates can also be issued for the publication and maintenance of databases of personal dataYttrandefrihetsgrundlagen (1991:1469) (Constitutional Law on freedom of expression), Chapter 4, Paragraph 1.. Swedish lawLagen (2018:218) med kompletterande bestämmelser till EU:s dataskyddsförordning, 1:7 (Law (2018:218) laying down supplementary provisions to the EU GDPR, Chapter 1, Article 7). provides for broad GDPR derogations for certain activities covered by the permit, as an implementation of Article 85 GDPR ("Processing and freedom of expression and information"): * The GDPR and the Swedish Law on data protection do not apply when they would conflict with the constitutional protection afforded by a publication certificate. * Additionally, specific Articles of the GDPR and the Law on data protection - including all of Chapter VIII of the GDPR (Remedies, liabilities and penalties)- do not apply to the processing of personal data that takes place for journalistic purposes or for academic, artistic or literary creation. As a result of these broad exemption, data subjects have limited remedies available when the processing of their data is covered by a publication certificate. In particular, Swedish lawLagen (2018:218) med kompletterande bestämmelser till EU:s dataskyddsförordning, 9:1. provides that in such cases, controllers can only be held liable for damages when the processing of personal data constitutes defamation. = Legal Newdesk Sweden AB, formerly Garrapatica AB (the controller), holds such a certificate. The controller maintained a database (Lexbase) where personal data, including criminal convictions, are stored. The data were made available to third parties for payment. A data subject challenged the process
Outcome
CJEU Case
A judgment or Advocate General opinion in a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Related Cases (1)
Other cases involving Legal Newsdesk Sweden AB in EU
Details
Judgment Date
1 January 2025
Authority
Court of Justice of the European Union
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Legal Newsdesk Sweden AB - European Union (2025). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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