Article 16 GDPR: Difference between revisions

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==Commentary==
==Commentary==
Article 16 GDPR grants data subjects the right to rectify their personal data.<ref>This right is another expression of the control that the GDPR gives data subjects over their personal data, as remarked by Recital 7 GDPR. Along with the rights to erasure, restriction, and objection, it can be considered a second-stage of the exercise of rights, in which control of personal data is effectively exerted. The first stage would be the right of access (Article 15) by which data subject can collect the necessary information about their personal data and how they are being processed. See, ''Kamann, Braun'', in Ehmann, Selmayr, Datenschutz-Grundverordnung, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 6 (C.H. Beck 2018, 2nd Edition).</ref> The term 'rectification' encompasses a number of meanings: modification, correction, integration or updating. More generally, it can be said that the right of rectification responds to the inaccuracy of or failure to update personal data relating to the data subject. In this respect, the right of rectification represents the materialisation of the right to personal identity and the correct representation of the facts concerning the individual.<ref>''Belisario'', in Riccio, Scorza, Belisario, GDPR e normativa privacy - Commentario, Article 16 GDPR, p. 176 (Wolters Kluwer 2018).</ref>  
The provision, titled "Right to rectification", actually introduces two distinct rights. The first is the right to rectify inaccurate data, while the second is the right to complete incomplete data. Despite the differences between the two, the common factor is the individual's right to avoid a false representation of themselves within a given society.<ref>This right is another expression of the control that the GDPR gives data subjects over their personal data, as remarked by Recital 7 GDPR. Along with the rights to erasure, restriction, and objection, it can be considered a second-stage of the exercise of rights, in which control of personal data is effectively exerted. The first stage would be the right of access (Article 15) by which data subject can collect the necessary information about their personal data and how they are being processed. See, ''Kamann, Braun'', in Ehmann, Selmayr, Datenschutz-Grundverordnung, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 6 (C.H. Beck 2018, 2nd Edition). n this respect, the right of rectification represents another angle of the right to a correct representation of the facts concerning the individual. ''Belisario'', in Riccio, Scorza, Belisario, GDPR e normativa privacy - Commentario, Article 16 GDPR, p. 176 (Wolters Kluwer 2018).</ref>  
===Right to Rectification===
===Right to Rectification===
The accuracy and completeness of personal data are very important to data subjects. The stored and linked personal data usually give an overall picture of the data subject and their personality. Further, such data often serve as a basis for third parties’ decisions concerning the data subject. For example, the storage of incorrect creditworthiness data can lead to the rejection of a required loan, causing the applicant to be cut off from essential services. Thus, the processing of incorrect or incomplete data can lead to possibly severe disadvantages for the data subject.<ref>''Meents, Hinzpeter'' in Taeger, Gabel, DSGVO – BDSG, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 2 (Deutscher Fachverlag, 4th Edition).</ref> The right to rectification is also applicable to data collected before the entry into force of the GDPR, since the storage of such data means that they are still being processed.<ref>VGH Baden-Württemberg, 3 March 2020, 1 S 397/19 (available [http://lrbw.juris.de/cgi-bin/laender_rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bw&nr=30900 here]).</ref>  
The accuracy and completeness of personal data are very important to data subjects. The stored and linked personal data usually give an overall picture of the data subject and their personality. Further, such data often serve as a basis for third parties’ decisions concerning the data subject. For example, the storage of incorrect creditworthiness data can lead to the rejection of a required loan, causing the applicant to be cut off from essential services. Thus, the processing of incorrect or incomplete data can lead to possibly severe disadvantages for the data subject.<ref>''Meents, Hinzpeter'' in Taeger, Gabel, DSGVO – BDSG, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 2 (Deutscher Fachverlag, 4th Edition).</ref> The right to rectification is also applicable to data collected before the entry into force of the GDPR, since the storage of such data means that they are still being processed.<ref>VGH Baden-Württemberg, 3 March 2020, 1 S 397/19 (available [http://lrbw.juris.de/cgi-bin/laender_rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bw&nr=30900 here]).</ref>  

Revision as of 13:17, 27 April 2023

Article 16 - Right to rectification
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Chapter 10: Delegated and implementing acts

Legal Text


Article 16 - Right to rectification

The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning him or her. Taking into account the purposes of the processing, the data subject shall have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of providing a supplementary statement.

Relevant Recitals

Recital 39: Principles of Data Processing
Any processing of personal data should be lawful and fair. It should be transparent to natural persons that personal data concerning them are collected, used, consulted or otherwise processed and to what extent the personal data are or will be processed. The principle of transparency requires that any information and communication relating to the processing of those personal data be easily accessible and easy to understand, and that clear and plain language be used. That principle concerns, in particular, information to the data subjects on the identity of the controller and the purposes of the processing and further information to ensure fair and transparent processing in respect of the natural persons concerned and their right to obtain confirmation and communication of personal data concerning them which are being processed. Natural persons should be made aware of risks, rules, safeguards and rights in relation to the processing of personal data and how to exercise their rights in relation to such processing. In particular, the specific purposes for which personal data are processed should be explicit and legitimate and determined at the time of the collection of the personal data. The personal data should be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which they are processed. This requires, in particular, ensuring that the period for which the personal data are stored is limited to a strict minimum. Personal data should be processed only if the purpose of the processing could not reasonably be fulfilled by other means. In order to ensure that the personal data are not kept longer than necessary, time limits should be established by the controller for erasure or for a periodic review. Every reasonable step should be taken to ensure that personal data which are inaccurate are rectified or deleted. Personal data should be processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security and confidentiality of the personal data, including for preventing unauthorised access to or use of personal data and the equipment used for the processing.

Recital 65: Right to Erasure and Rectification
A data subject should have the right to have personal data concerning him or her rectified and a ‘right to be forgotten’ where the retention of such data infringes this Regulation or Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject. In particular, a data subject should have the right to have his or her personal data erased and no longer processed where the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are collected or otherwise processed, where a data subject has withdrawn his or her consent or objects to the processing of personal data concerning him or her, or where the processing of his or her personal data does not otherwise comply with this Regulation. That right is relevant in particular where the data subject has given his or her consent as a child and is not fully aware of the risks involved by the processing, and later wants to remove such personal data, especially on the internet. The data subject should be able to exercise that right notwithstanding the fact that he or she is no longer a child. However, the further retention of the personal data should be lawful where it is necessary, for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller, on the grounds of public interest in the area of public health, for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Commentary

The provision, titled "Right to rectification", actually introduces two distinct rights. The first is the right to rectify inaccurate data, while the second is the right to complete incomplete data. Despite the differences between the two, the common factor is the individual's right to avoid a false representation of themselves within a given society.[1]

Right to Rectification

The accuracy and completeness of personal data are very important to data subjects. The stored and linked personal data usually give an overall picture of the data subject and their personality. Further, such data often serve as a basis for third parties’ decisions concerning the data subject. For example, the storage of incorrect creditworthiness data can lead to the rejection of a required loan, causing the applicant to be cut off from essential services. Thus, the processing of incorrect or incomplete data can lead to possibly severe disadvantages for the data subject.[2] The right to rectification is also applicable to data collected before the entry into force of the GDPR, since the storage of such data means that they are still being processed.[3]

Right to Correct Inaccurate Data

The first sentence of Article 16 concerns the right to rectify inaccurate data. The GDPR does not define the concept of inaccuracy, so it must be interpreted according to EU law. Personal data are incorrect if the facts about the data subject set out therein do not objectively correspond to reality. This occurs when there are factual errors in the representation of reality. For example, in the case of registry errors (date of birth, residence) and more generally errors relating to events that can be objectively assessed ("Subject A was in a certain place on a certain date").

For example, the right to rectification cannot be used as a means to correct data subjects’ exams answers, since according to the CJEU the assessment of whether personal data is accurate and complete must be made in the light of the purpose for which that data was collected. In such a case, the purpose is to be able to evaluate the level of knowledge and competence of that candidate at the time of the examination. That level is revealed precisely by any errors in those answers. Consequently, such errors do not represent inaccuracy.

This right could be used, however, to examine whether scripts were mixed up in such a way that the answers of another candidate were ascribed to the candidate concerned, or whether some of the cover sheets containing the answers of that candidate were lost.[4] Correspondingly, it is not possible to rectify value judgements ("Subject B is smart"). However, this does not apply to value judgements based on incorrect facts, in which case there is an obligation to rectify the facts on which they were based.[5]

Right to Complete Incomplete Data

Article 16 also gives data subjects the right to have complete incomplete personal data sets. However, the concept of completeness should be understood in relative terms as data sets are never complete.[6] Certain data could be considered complete in one processing context, while the same data could be seen as incomplete in another. This also suggests that the right to rectification does not oblige controllers to rectify personal data when the inaccuracy is not relevant for the purposes of the processing.

For example, the Norwegian Privacy Appeals Board has decided in a case that a controller was not obliged to rectify a single letter of a name since it does not entail danger of mis-identification and is related to differences between countries in spelling names, especially given the burden that it will impose on the controller to modify it in all their records.[7] Further, a controller running a parcel delivery service lacks some important address information so that parcels cannot be delivered. The data subject has a right to have their address data completed so that the purpose of the data processing can be fulfilled.

The right to rectification may therefore become a right to add missing elements rather than to correct existing data. In this respect, the act of completing personal data can be executed by providing a supplementary statement (e.g. mentioning the data subject's acquittal and the discontinuation of criminal proceedings).[8]

Procedural aspects

Pursuant to Article 12(2) GDPR, the controller shall facilitate the data subject's exercise of their right to rectification.[9] In accordance with Article 12(3) GDPR, the controller has to answer the rectification request "without undue delay and in any event within one month of receipt of the request". This deadline may be extended by two months where necessary, taking into account the complexity and number of the requests. Under Article 12(4) GDPR, any extension of the deadline must be communicated to the data subject alongside the reason behind it. The rectification request does not have to be justified, and the data subject neither needs a reason to exercise it nor prove the existence of damage.[10]

Relation to Article 18 GDPR

Article 18 GDPR allows the data processing to be restricted when the accuracy of the data is contested. Thus, in addition to a rectification request the data subject may also exercise their right to restrict the processing whilst the request is carried out. For further information, please refer to Article 18 GDPR.

Relation to Article 19 GDPR

Article 19 GDPR requires controllers to notify data subjects that the rectification of their data has been carried out, in order to ensure that they are informed about the correct exercise of their right to rectification. For further information, please refer to Article 19 GDPR.

Decisions

→ You can find all related decisions in Category:Article 16 GDPR

References

  1. This right is another expression of the control that the GDPR gives data subjects over their personal data, as remarked by Recital 7 GDPR. Along with the rights to erasure, restriction, and objection, it can be considered a second-stage of the exercise of rights, in which control of personal data is effectively exerted. The first stage would be the right of access (Article 15) by which data subject can collect the necessary information about their personal data and how they are being processed. See, Kamann, Braun, in Ehmann, Selmayr, Datenschutz-Grundverordnung, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 6 (C.H. Beck 2018, 2nd Edition). n this respect, the right of rectification represents another angle of the right to a correct representation of the facts concerning the individual. Belisario, in Riccio, Scorza, Belisario, GDPR e normativa privacy - Commentario, Article 16 GDPR, p. 176 (Wolters Kluwer 2018).
  2. Meents, Hinzpeter in Taeger, Gabel, DSGVO – BDSG, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 2 (Deutscher Fachverlag, 4th Edition).
  3. VGH Baden-Württemberg, 3 March 2020, 1 S 397/19 (available here).
  4. CJEU, Case C-434/16, Nowak, 20 December 2017, margin numbers 52-54 (available here).
  5. Meents, Hinzpeter in Taeger, Gabel, DSGVO – BDSG, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 8 (Deutscher Fachverlag, 4th Edition).
  6. Worms, in Wolff, Brink, BeckOK Datenschutzrecht, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 58 (C.H. Beck 2020, 38th Edition).
  7. Personvernrådet, 10 November 2020, 20/01868 (PVN-2020-15) (available here).
  8. de Terwangne, Bygrave, in Kuner, Bygrave, Docksey, The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): A Commentary, Article 16 GDPR, p. 473 (Oxford University Press 2020).
  9. This may be done, partially, by providing the possibility of making a rectification request via electronic means, as recommended by Article 15(3) GDPR and Recital 64 GDPR when dealing with access requests.
  10. Kamann, Braun, in Ehmann, Selmayr, Datenschutz-Grundverordnung, Article 16 GDPR, margin number 18 (C.H. Beck 2018, 2nd Edition).