CJEU - C-73/07 - Satamedia: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 08:15, 27 April 2023

CJEU - C-73/07 Satamedia

Court:	CJEU
Jurisdiction:	European Union
Relevant Law:	Article 3(1) of Directive 95/46/EC
Decided:	16.12.2008
Parties:	Tietosuojavaltuutettu v Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy, Satamedia Oy,
Case Number/Name:	C-73/07 Satamedia
European Case Law Identifier:	ECLI:EU:C:2008:727
Reference from:	KHO (Finland)
Language:	24 EU Languages
Original Source:	Judgement
Initial Contributor:	TaraTB

English Summary

Facts

Reference for preliminary ruling was made by the Supreme Administrative Court in Helsinki (Korkein hallinto-oikeus). The reference related to the interpretation of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy collected for its own use tax data on individuals available from the tax authorities. Using those data, it published each year in the regional editions of the Veropörssi newspaper containing a list giving tax information of approximately 1.2 million natural persons. Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy transferred the published personal data on a CD-ROM to Satamedia Oy (owned by the same shareholders) which disseminated them by a text messaging system..

Following complainta from individuals, the Finnish DPA investigated the activity of Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy and Satamedia Oy, and requested the data protection board (Tietosuojalautakunta) to prohibit the latter from carrying on the processing activities. The board rejected the request. Eventually, the DPA brought an appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court, which referred the following questions for a preliminary ruling:

(1) Whether collection, publication, transfer of a CD ROM and text messages constitutes processing of personal data; (2) Whether it is processing for solely journalistic purposes within the meaning of Article 9 of Directive 95/46; (3) Whether Article 17 and principles of Directive 95/46 preclude publication of data collected for journalistic purposes and their onward transfer for commercial purposes; (4) Whether personal data that have already been published in the media fall outside scope of Directive 95/46. Definition of personal data Definition of processing Scope of Directive 95/46 Processing for solely journalistic purposes

Holding

1. Article 3(1) of Directive 95/46/EC is to be interpreted as meaning that an activity in which data on the earned and unearned income and the assets of natural persons are:

– collected from documents in the public domain held by the tax authorities and processed for publication,

– published alphabetically in printed form by income bracket and municipality in the form of comprehensive lists,

– transferred onward on CD-ROM to be used for commercial purposes, and

– processed for the purposes of a text-messaging service whereby mobile telephone users can, by sending a text message containing details of an individual’s name and municipality of residence to a given number, receive in reply information concerning the earned and unearned income and assets of that person,

must be considered as the ‘processing of personal data’ within the meaning of that provision.

2. Article 9 of Directive 95/46 is to be interpreted as meaning that data relating to the earned and unearned income and assets of natural persons that are collected from documents in the public domain held by the tax authorities and a) processed for publication, and b) processed for the purposes of a text-messaging service, must be considered as activities involving the processing of personal data carried out ‘solely for journalistic purposes’, within the meaning of that provision, if the sole object of those activities is the disclosure to the public of information, opinions or ideas. Whether that is the case is a matter for the national court to determine.

3. Activities in which data relating to the earned and unearned income and assets of natural persons are a) transferred onward on CD-ROM to be used for commercial purposes, and b) processed for the purposes of a text-messaging service whereby mobile telephone users can, by sending a text message containing details of an individual’s name and municipality of residence to a given number, receive in reply information concerning the earned and unearned income and assets of that person, relating to personal data files which contain solely, and in unaltered form, material that has already been published in the media, fall within the scope of application of Directive 95/46.

Comment

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@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 |
 }}
-Questions referred: (1) |Whether collection, publication, transfer of a CD ROM and text
-messages constitutes processing of personal data; (2) Whether it is processing for solely
-journalistic purposes within the meaning of Article 9 of Directive 95/46; (3) Whether Article 17 and
-principles of Directive 95/46 preclude publication of data collected for journalistic purposes and
-their onward transfer for commercial purposes; (4) Whether personal data that have already been
-published in the media fall outside scope of Directive 95/46.
-Definition of personal data
-Definition of processing
-Scope of Directive 95/46
-Processing for solely journalistic purposes
 ==English Summary==
 === Facts ===
-Reference for preliminary ruling by the Korkein hallinto-oikeus (administrative court, Helsinki).
+Reference for preliminary ruling was made by the Supreme Administrative Court in Helsinki (Korkein hallinto-oikeus). The reference related to the interpretation of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.
-Defendant 1: (a) collected public personal data (the name of persons whose income exceeded a
-threshold, the amount of earned and unearned income, and the wealth tax levied) from Finnish tax
+Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy collected for its own use tax data on individuals available from the tax authorities. Using those data, it published each year in the regional editions of the ''Veropörssi'' newspaper containing a list giving tax information of approximately 1.2 million natural persons. Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy transferred the published personal data on a CD-ROM to Satamedia Oy (owned by the same shareholders) which disseminated them by a text messaging system..
-authorities and (b) published extracts in a regional newspaper each year. The newspaper stated
-that personal data can be removed on request without charge. Defendant 1 also: (c) transferred
+Following complainta from individuals, the Finnish DPA investigated the activity of Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy and Satamedia Oy, and requested the data protection board (Tietosuojalautakunta) to prohibit the latter from carrying on the processing activities. The board rejected the request. Eventually, the DPA brought an appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court, which referred the following questions for a preliminary ruling:
-the data on CD ROM to Defendant 2 (owned by the same shareholders) which (d) disseminated
-them by text messaging system.
+(1) Whether collection, publication, transfer of a CD ROM and text messages constitutes processing of personal data; (2) Whether it is processing for solely journalistic purposes within the meaning of Article 9 of Directive 95/46; (3) Whether Article 17 and principles of Directive 95/46 preclude publication of data collected for journalistic purposes and their onward transfer for commercial purposes; (4) Whether personal data that have already been published in the media fall outside scope of Directive 95/46. Definition of personal data Definition of processing Scope of Directive 95/46 Processing for solely journalistic purposes
 === Holding ===
-.      Article 3(1) of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data is to be interpreted as meaning that an activity in which data on the earned and unearned income and the assets of natural persons are:
+.      Article 3(1) of Directive 95/46/EC is to be interpreted as meaning that an activity in which data on the earned and unearned income and the assets of natural persons are:
 –        collected from documents in the public domain held by the tax authorities and processed for publication,
@@ Line 68: / Line 57: @@
 must be considered as the ‘processing of personal data’ within the meaning of that provision.
-.      Article 9 of Directive 95/46 is to be interpreted as meaning that the activities referred to at points (a) to (d) of the first question, relating to data from documents which are in the public domain under national legislation, must be considered as activities involving the processing of personal data carried out ‘solely for journalistic purposes’, within the meaning of that provision, if the sole object of those activities is the disclosure to the public of information, opinions or ideas. Whether that is the case is a matter for the national court to determine.
+.      Article 9 of Directive 95/46 is to be interpreted as meaning that data relating to the earned and unearned income and assets of natural persons that are collected from documents in the public domain held by the tax authorities and a) processed for publication, and b) processed for the purposes of a text-messaging service, must be considered as activities involving the processing of personal data carried out ‘solely for journalistic purposes’, within the meaning of that provision, if the sole object of those activities is the disclosure to the public of information, opinions or ideas. Whether that is the case is a matter for the national court to determine.
-.      Activities involving the processing of personal data such as those referred to at points (c) and (d) of the first question and relating to personal data files which contain solely, and in unaltered form, material that has already been published in the media, fall within the scope of application of Directive 95/46.
+.      Activities in which data relating to the earned and unearned income and assets of natural persons are a) transferred onward on CD-ROM to be used for commercial purposes, and b) processed for the purposes of a text-messaging service whereby mobile telephone users can, by sending a text message containing details of an individual’s name and municipality of residence to a given number, receive in reply information concerning the earned and unearned income and assets of that person, relating to personal data files which contain solely, and in unaltered form, material that has already been published in the media, fall within the scope of application of Directive 95/46.
 == Comment ==