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|Original_Source_Name_1=DSB
|Original_Source_Name_1=Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS)
|Original_Source_Link_1=https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokument.wxe?ResultFunctionToken=119f8972-7b48-4874-8b92-2ce5cb9cb78c&Position=1&Abfrage=Dsk&Entscheidungsart=Undefined&Organ=Undefined&SucheNachRechtssatz=True&SucheNachText=True&GZ=&VonDatum=01.01.1990&BisDatum=&Norm=&ImRisSeitVonDatum=&ImRisSeitBisDatum=&ImRisSeit=Undefined&ResultPageSize=100&Suchworte=&Dokumentnummer=DSBT_20210929_2021_0_568_642_00
|Original_Source_Link_1=https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokument.wxe?ResultFunctionToken=119f8972-7b48-4874-8b92-2ce5cb9cb78c&Position=1&Abfrage=Dsk&Entscheidungsart=Undefined&Organ=Undefined&SucheNachRechtssatz=True&SucheNachText=True&GZ=&VonDatum=01.01.1990&BisDatum=&Norm=&ImRisSeitVonDatum=&ImRisSeitBisDatum=&ImRisSeit=Undefined&ResultPageSize=100&Suchworte=&Dokumentnummer=DSBT_20210929_2021_0_568_642_00
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Latest revision as of 09:43, 2 December 2021

DSB (Austria) - 2021-0.568.642
LogoAT.png
Authority: DSB (Austria)
Jurisdiction: Austria
Relevant Law: Article 4 GDPR
Article 6(1)(f) GDPR
Article 51(1) GDPR
Article 77(1) GDPR
Article 82(1) GDPR
Article 82(6) GDPR
§1(1) DSG
§29(1) DSG
§29(2) DSG
Type: Complaint
Outcome: Rejected
Started:
Decided: 29.09.2021
Published: 24.11.2021
Fine: None
Parties: Rudolf A***
Irene A***
N* GmbH
National Case Number/Name: 2021-0.568.642
European Case Law Identifier: ECLI:AT:DSB:2021:2021.0.568.642
Appeal: Unknown
Original Language(s): German
Original Source: Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) (in DE)
Initial Contributor: Frederick Antonovics

The Austrian DPA rejected a complaint by two data subjects who claimed their right to confidentiality had been violated, and found the controller had lawfully obtained and processed the complainants' address data in the context of an advertising campaign.

English Summary

Facts

The subject matter of the complaint is whether the respondent violated the first and second complainants' right to confidentiality (under §1(1) DSG) by obtaining their "most personal" data - which the Austrian DPA understood to mean their address data, specifically title, name, date of birth and address - from the customer and prospect file systems of other address and direct marketing companies.[1]

The respondent argued that it had the commercial authority of an address publishing and direct marketing company, and therefore lawfully processed the complainant's personal data. They supported this claim by handing over declarations of the data providers to the Austrian DPA.

Holding

The Austrian DPA assessed the documents the respondent provided, and held that the processing of the complainant's address data was lawful because (i) the respondent had a valid trade licence "for the exercise of the trade of address publishers and direct marketing companies", (ii) only obtained the relevant data for advertising purposes, (iii) processed the data in line with the principle of proportionality per §151(3) Trade Regulation Act 1994.

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English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the German original. Please refer to the German original for more details.



Decisive authority
Data protection authority


Decision date
29.09.2021


Business number
2021-0.568.642


Appeal at the BVwG / VwGH / VfGH
This decision is final.




text
GZ: 2021-0.568.642 of September 29, 2021 (case number: DSB-D205.482)

[Note processor: names and companies, legal forms and product names, addresses (incl. URLs, IP and e-mail addresses), file numbers (and the like), etc., as well as their initials and abbreviations can be abbreviated and / or changed for reasons of pseudonymisation be. Obvious spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors have been corrected.]

NOTICE
SPEECH
The data protection authority decides on the data protection complaints from Rudolf A *** (first complainant) and Irene A *** (second complainant), both dated December 8, 2019 (ha. Received on December 9, 2019), against N * GmbH (respondent) for alleged breach of the right to secrecy as follows:
1. The complaints are dismissed as unfounded.
2. The applications of the first complainant and the second complainant to claim the damage caused by the violation of the law are rejected.
Legal basis: Art. 4, Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f, Art. 51 Paragraph 1, Art. 57 Paragraph 1 lit. Basic Regulation, hereinafter: GDPR), OJ No. L 119 of 4.5.2016 p. 1; Sections 1 (1), 18 (1), 24 (1), (2) and (5) and 29 of the Data Protection Act (DSG), Federal Law Gazette I No. 165/1999 as amended; Sections 17 (3) and 39 (2) of the General Administrative Procedure Act 1991 (AVG), Federal Law Gazette No. 51/1991 as amended; § 151 of the trade regulations 1994 (GewO 1994), Federal Law Gazette No. 194/1994 as amended.

REASON
A. Arguments of the parties and course of the procedure
1. With the introductory submissions dated December 8, 2019 (ha. Received on December 9, 2019), the complainants alleged a violation of the right to secrecy. The proceedings were then combined for joint treatment in accordance with Section 39 (2) AVG.
2. With regard to the alleged infringement, the complainants submitted that they had no knowledge whatsoever of how the respondent got hold of their personal data. It is possible that these were drawn from the former employment relationship of the first complainant or the bank account of the second complainant. Copies of the respective letters of information were attached to the entries.
3. On May 28, 2020, the data protection authority requested the respondent to comment.
4. With a submission dated June 10, 2020, the Respondent submitted that she had the commercial authorization of an address publishing and direct marketing company. On the basis of this, she determined the complainants' personal data. Consent is not required. The information provided shows that the respondent had received the data from other address publishers. The data records of the complainants were blocked due to the request and no longer passed on.
5. On November 10, 2020, the data protection authority granted the complainants a hearing.
6. The complainants made no further comments.
7. With the settlement of August 12, 2021, the data protection authority requested the respondent to submit the declarations of the data suppliers within the meaning of Section 151 Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the GewO.
8. With the submission of August 20, 2021, the Respondent submitted the requested documents, which were excluded from inspection of the files due to a corresponding application pursuant to Section 17 (3) AVG and consequently not transmitted to the complainants within the scope of the hearing of the parties.
B. Subject matter of the complaint
Based on the submission that initiated the proceedings, the subject of the complaint is whether the respondent has thereby violated the first complainant and the second complainant's right to secrecy in accordance with Section 1 (1) DSG by providing their address data, specifically salutation, name, date of birth and address Discovered the customer and prospect file systems of other address and direct marketing companies.
C. Factual Findings
1. As a result of a corresponding application by the first complainant, the Respondent issued data protection information on April 2, 2019, which was presented as follows (formatting not reproduced 1: 1, excerpts insofar as it is procedurally relevant):


YOUR REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ART. 15 GDPR April 2nd, 2019
Dear Madam, dear Sir,
We are happy to answer your request as to which data is processed about you.
First of all, for your information, a brief overview of the data processing purposes:
Data processing for the purpose of transporting and delivering shipments
This data processing is necessary for the transport and delivery service in the usual way
Perform quality. Because in order to deliver items such as letters and parcels to you, N * GmbH (hereinafter also "N *") processes your name and address as well as the others
Shipment data.

Data processing for our own marketing purposes
The N * provides comprehensive information about its own products and services and processes them too
data for this purpose.

Data processing within the framework of the address publisher
The N * uses data, insofar as this is legally permissible, in the context of its activities as
Address publisher and offers this to business customers for marketing purposes.

Data processing for the purpose of processing your inquiries
If you contact us, we will process data in order to be able to process your request.
More detailed information and other data processing purposes can be found at:
n * gmbh.com *** / data protection

You are welcome to correct your data at any time in the event of inaccuracies or errors
demand. In addition, in some cases you have a right to data portability and thus
on the release of your personal data disclosed to us in a structured,
common and machine-readable format. Under certain conditions, you can use the
Request restriction of processing and deletion of your personal data or
To object to the processing. We would like to inform you that the statistical extrapolations regarding "possible target group for Y ***" (if you have them at all) will be deleted after this information.

You can revoke any consent you may have given at any time without giving reasons with effect for
Revoke the future, data processing until revocation remain unaffected.

For further questions, please use our contact form at
https: //www.n*.com/**kontakt
If you want to contact us by post or if you cannot access our information on n * gmbh.com *** / datenschutz, please write to:
N * GmbH customer service
R *** lane 9 *
1 ** 0 Vienna
You can also lodge a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority, Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna.
We hope that we have dealt with your request to your satisfaction. additional Information
about the use of data at N * GmbH can be found on our homepage
on n * .com in the area of data protection information. In the appendix, against the background of current media reporting, we are allowed to send you the data information regarding your data processed for marketing purposes as well as statistical projections made in this context.





N *
saved data
                                  Data source: W *** Direkt GmbH



Field name
record


Record number
5 **** 1047 ***


salutation
Mr


First name
Rudolf


last name
A ***


birth date
03/25/19 **


Street
K *** street 3 *


Postcode
* 020


location
W ***


Number of moves
2


Position in household
likely head of household


Functional level
undef. (Pupils / students / apprentices)


Partnership 1
Traditionally married couple


Minimum annual income / person in euros 2
25,000 euros


Life phase person 3
expand, couple / family, age up to 49 years or child (ren)


Data transfer
For reference and statistical purposes


Dominant Geo Millieu
Consumption-oriented basis


Probability value conservatives
7.13%


Probability value traditional
3.01%


Probability value established
7.09%


Probability value performer
11.44%


Probability value post-material
7.12%


Probability value digital individualists
8.26%


Probability value middle class
9.81%


Adaptive Pragmatic probability value
7.6%


Probability value consumption-oriented basis
27%


Probability value hedonists
11.54%























The supplier of the above data is:

W *** Direkt GmbH
***Street *
1 *** Vienna
Email: office@w***.at

Planned storage period:
If data transfer is permitted in accordance with Section 151 of the Trade Regulations, the data will be processed for as long as they are used for
Third party marketing purposes are carried out or until you request the data to be deleted. Have the data passed on
Third parties are prohibited in accordance with Section 151 of the Trade Regulations, your name, address and, if applicable, your date of birth will only be used to prevent data being passed on to third parties. This data will be used until you wish your data to be deleted.





saved data
Data source: Marketing *** XY AG





Field name
record


Record number
7 **** 398 ***


salutation
Mr


First name
Rudolf


last name
A *


birth date
03/25/19 **


Street
K *** street 3 *


Postcode
* 020


location
W ****


Use of data
Data transfer permitted in accordance with § 151 GewO










The supplier of this data is:
Marketing *** XY AG
M *** street 9 *
6 *** L ***
Email: ** @xy ***. At

Planned storage period:
The data is stored for 3 months. As soon as an update is received from Marketing *** XY AG, the data
deleted and replaced by the data from the update.





























Your orders to N * GmbH





Field name
assignment
assignment
assignment


Type of order
Parking permit
Parking permit
Domestic forwarding order on a permanent basis


Form number
3 **** 5932721 *
3 **** 3859017
1 **** 947202


legitimation
27kjjdHui **** III *****
31 ** 5II08yyyy4 ***
40 **** 18yyy364 ** III


Valid from
February 20, 2019
December 24, 2018
December 03, 2018


Date of Expiry
revocation
revocation
02.12.2019


Data transfer



Data transfer in accordance with
§ 151 trade regulations permissible



salutation
Mr
Mr
Mr


First name
Rudolf
Rudolf
Rudolf


Surname
A ***
A ***
A ***


birth date
03/25/19 **

03/25/19 **


prefix
68 *
68 *
68 *


Phone number
* 496308
* 496308
* 496308


Email
a***.rudolf@aon.at
a***.rudolf@aon.at



Record number
29753 ***
29296 ***
29471 ***


Road AFTER


L ***


House number AFTER


5


ZIP TO


* 020


Location AFTER


E *


STREET FROM
L *
L *
K *** street


House number FROM
5
5
3 *


ZIP OF
* 021
* 021
* 022


Location FROM
W ***
W ***
M ***


Date of issue
February 16, 2019
February 19, 2018
11/21/2018










Planned storage period:

In the case of orders for which the transfer of data is permitted in accordance with Section 151 of the Trade Regulations, the data will be processed for as long as it is used for third-party marketing purposes or for as long as you request the data to be deleted. The order serves as proof that you have been informed in accordance with the law and that the data is being processed lawfully. If you have prohibited the transfer of data in accordance with Section 151 of the Trade Regulations, the order will be deleted 3 years after the forwarding has ended.

If you have placed orders in which you have not been informed about the use of data for marketing use by third parties in accordance with Section 151 of the Trade Regulations, the data will be deleted 3 years after the end of the contract. Such orders are, for example, parking permits or postal powers of attorney.

Purpose of processing:

Your data will be processed for the proper execution of your order and to prove whether or that use is permissible according to § 151 GewO.

2. As a result of a corresponding application by the second complainant, the Respondent issued information under data protection law in May 2019, which was as follows (formatting not reproduced 1: 1, excerpts insofar as it is procedurally relevant):

YOUR REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ART. 15 GDPR May 2019
Dear Madam, dear Sir,

We are happy to answer your request as to which data is processed about you.

First of all, for your information, a brief overview of the data processing purposes:


Data processing for the purpose of transporting and delivering shipments
This data processing is necessary in order to carry out the transport and delivery service in the usual quality. Because in order to deliver shipments, letters and parcels to you, N * GmbH (hereinafter also "N *") processes your name and address as well as the other data of the shipment.
Data processing for our own marketing purposes
The N * provides comprehensive information about its own products and services and processes data for this purpose.
Data processing within the framework of the address publisher
The N * uses data, insofar as this is legally permissible, in the context of its activity as an address publisher and offers this to business customers for marketing purposes.
Data processing for the purpose of processing your inquiries
When you contact us. we process data in order to be able to process your request.
 Detailed information and further data processing purposes can be found at:
 n * gmbh.com *** / data protection

You are welcome to correct your data at any time in the event of inaccuracies or errors
demand. In addition, in some cases you have a right to data portability and thus
on the release of your personal data disclosed to us in a structured,
common and machine-readable format. Under certain conditions, you can use the
Request restriction of processing and deletion of your personal data or
To object to the processing. We would like to inform you that the statistical
Projections regarding "possible target group for Y ***" (if this is yours
exist at all) after this information is deleted.

You can revoke any consent you may have given at any time without giving reasons with effect for
Revoke the future, data processing until revocation remain unaffected.
For further questions, please use our contact form at www.n * @. Kontakt.at.
If you want to contact us by post or if you want our information on
n * .com / datenschutz *** are not accessible, please write to:

N * GmbH customer service
R *** lane 9 *
1 ** 0 Vienna
You can also lodge a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority, Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna.
We hope that we have dealt with your request to your satisfaction. additional Information
about the use of data at N * GmbH can be found on our homepage
on n * .com in the area of data protection information. In the appendix, against the background of current media reporting, we are allowed to send you the data information regarding your data processed for marketing purposes as well as statistical projections made in this context.












saved data
Data source: W *** Direkt GmbH



Field name
record


Record number
29 *** 1047 *


salutation
Mrs


First name
Irene


last name
A ***


birth date
06/04/19 **


Street
K *** street 3 *


Postcode
* 020


location
W ***


Minimum annual income / person in euros ²
13,000 euros


Life phase person ³
expand, couple / family, age up to 49 years or child (ren)


Data transfer
For reference and statistical purposes


Dominant Geo Millieu
Bourgeois center


Probability value conservatives
9.23%


Probability value traditional
10.49%


Probability value established
8.13%


Probability value performer
7.72%


Probability value post-material
12.45%


Probability value digital individualists
3.02%


Probability value middle class
25.67%


Adaptive Pragmatic probability value
12.84%


Probability value consumption-oriented basis
5.22%


Probability value hedonists
5.23%










² Income estimate assigned to you personally, calculated on the basis of statistical data such as
Municipal purchasing power, average income depending on the regional statistical grid, age, gender and academic
Degree.
³ People have different habits and needs depending on the phase of life they are in.
The phase of life model indicates the phase of life in which the person is. The phase of life is due
Calculated from gender, age, surname, other people living in the household and living environment.

The supplier of the above data is:

W *** Direkt GmbH
***Street *
1 *** Vienna
Email: office@w***.at

Planned storage period:
If data transfer is permitted in accordance with Section 151 of the Trade Regulations, the data will be processed for as long as they are used for
Third party marketing purposes are carried out or until you request the data to be deleted. Have the data passed on
Third parties are prohibited in accordance with Section 151 of the Trade Regulations, your name, address and, if applicable, your date of birth will only be used to prevent data being passed on to third parties. This data will be used until you wish your data to be deleted.


Evaluation of evidence: The findings on points C.1. and C.2. are based on the information submitted by the complainant to initiate the proceedings as well as the copy of the information letter submitted, the authenticity and correctness of which was never questioned by the respondent.
3. With submissions dated December 8, 2019 (ha. Received on December 9, 2019), the complainants submitted complaints to the data protection authority.
Evidence assessment: The statement on point C.3. results from the files.
4. The Respondent has had since * 5. June 19 ** about a valid trade license to practice the trade of address publishers and direct marketing companies.
Evidence assessment: The statement on point C.4. based on an extract from the Austrian Business Information System (GISA,) requested by the data protection authority on September 28, 2021, GISA number: * 47 ** 361 **.
5. The complainant's address data, specifically salutation, first and last name, date of birth and address, were made available to the respondent from a customer and prospect file system of Marketing *** XY AG and / or W *** Direkt GmbH.
Evaluation of evidence: The findings under point C.5. are based on the respondent's statements as well as the information letters submitted by the complainant in the context of the initiating submissions.
6. Marketing *** XY AG has declared to the respondent within the meaning of § 151 Paragraph 5 GewO that the collection of address data, in particular salutation, name, date of birth and address, will be carried out for marketing purposes in a suitable manner in accordance with § 151 GewO and there was no prohibition on the part of those affected (declaration of no objection). This document was requested in accordance with Section 17 (3) AVG excluded from inspection of files.
7. W *** Direkt GmbH has declared to the respondent within the meaning of § 151 Paragraph 5 GewO that the collection of address data, in particular salutation, name, date of birth and address, will be carried out for marketing purposes in a suitable manner in accordance with § 151 GewO and there was no prohibition on the part of those affected (declaration of no objection). This document was requested in accordance with Section 17 (3) AVG excluded from inspection of files.
Evaluation of evidence: The findings on points C.6. and C.7. result from the files.
8. The consent of the first complainant and the second complainant to the processing of the items listed under points C.1. and C.2. The data sets listed were not available at any point in time. There was also no prohibition of processing for the purpose of direct marketing by the complainants.
9. After the information was provided by the Respondent on April 2, 2019 or May 2019, the items listed under points C.1. and C.2. cited data sets and these are no longer passed on to third parties for the purpose of direct marketing since then.
Evidence assessment: The information relating to points C.8. and C.9. The findings made are based on the Respondent's submissions, which were undisputed by the Complainants.
D. From a legal point of view, it follows:
D.1. On the admissibility of "secret evidence"
1.) Pursuant to Section 45 (3) AVG, the parties are to be given the opportunity to take note of and comment on the result of the taking of evidence (principle of allowing the parties to be heard, see VwGH March 27, 1990, 89/08/0250).
2.) In exceptional cases, however, the admissibility of a statement of reasons based on evidence that is excluded from inspection of the files, based on the decision of the Constitutional Court of October 10, 2019, E 1025/2018, according to which the interests of the parties to the proceedings for access to proceedings-relevant Information compete with the interests of parties to the procedure for the protection of confidential information and trade secrets.
3.) Specifically, the Administrative Court stated (emphasis added by the data protection authority):
“Neither the fundamental right of access to procedural files guaranteed by Art. 6 ECHR within the framework of the principle of equality of arms nor the fundamental right to secrecy of trade and business secrets protected by Art. 8 ECHR can establish an absolutely protected legal position. Rather, in administrative proceedings or in administrative court proceedings, the right of access to information relevant to the decision must be weighed against the right of other parties to the proceedings to protect their confidential information and their business secrets. The principle of the protection of confidential information and trade secrets must be designed in such a way that it is consistent with the requirements of effective legal protection and the observance of the procedural rights of those involved in the proceedings and that it is ensured that the right to a fair trial is observed overall.
[...]
Against this background, the fact that individual parts of the files are excluded from inspection of the files in accordance with Section 17 (3) AVG does not necessarily mean that this is accompanied by a violation of the right to be heard by the parties within the meaning of Section 45 (3) AVG if the authority nevertheless uses the relevant file components. It is true that it represents the principle of every official procedure regulated by the rule of law that there may be no secret evidence (so in each case VwGH 17.6.2004, 2003/03/0157; 25.9.2014, 2011/07/0006). In certain, exceptional cases, however, it may be necessary to withhold certain information from the parties in order to safeguard the fundamental rights of a third party or other party involved in the proceedings or to protect important interests of the general public, as long as it is ensured that both the authority and the administrative court appealed against dispose of all documents relevant to the decision in full (see ECJ February 14, 2008, case C-450/06, Varec SA; furthermore Hanslik, op. cit., 139 ff.). The information withheld from the parties to the proceedings is to be limited to the extent that is absolutely necessary and all possibilities are to be exhausted to limit the basis for decision-making in such a way that information to be withheld does not have to be used to make a decision. The authority or the administrative court must clearly justify the balancing of their procedure between the right to confidentiality and the right to inspect files and thus transparency of the basis for the decision, so that the parties to the proceedings are subject to administrative judicial control or an appeal to the
In principle, effective legal protection (VfSlg 13.699 / 1994) and effective complaints (Art. 13 ECHR) are guaranteed on the basis of Section 17 AVG. "
4.) In the present case, the findings in C.6. and C.7. The documents mentioned ("clearance certificates") or the (detailed) information contained therein are excluded from inspection of files or submission to the complainant due to a corresponding request by the respondent in accordance with Section 17 (3) AVG. The consideration of this information by the data protection authority was necessary insofar as the existence of a written "clearance certificate" is an essential legality requirement for the processing within the meaning of § 151 GewO (see point D.2.).
5.) It would not have been possible to pass on the evidence excluded from inspection of the files or from the hearing of the parties to the complainants without disclosing information about their business relationships with third parties (trade secrets) that was covered by the Respondent's interest in secrecy.
6.) At the same time, the complainants' interest in knowing the entire content of the document proves to be reduced to the extent that the complainants are aware of the fact that the declarations are available and thus the withholding of detailed information does not constitute a significant restriction on the procedural transparency that is relevant for the complainant . Incidentally, the legal assessment of the declarations had to be carried out officially by the data protection authority.
7.) A weighing up of these conflicting interests in the present case therefore led to the fact that this evidence could not be made available to the complainants.
D.2. On the subject of the complaint and the legality of the data processing (point 1)
8.) The complainants alleged a violation of the right to secrecy because the respondent unlawfully obtained her “most personal” data from a former employment relationship or bank account contract.
9.) On the basis of this submission, the data protection authority assumed that the complainants primarily complained about the illegal processing of address data - salutation, name, date of birth and address - and that the subject of the examination was consequently limited to this data category. The authority's obligation to conduct an official investigation of the truth does not go so far that it would have to carry out investigations in every conceivable direction; give (VwGH 04/04/2002, 2002/08/0021).
10.) As can be seen from the findings, the Respondent has a valid trade license to practice the trade of address publishers and direct marketing companies. In addition to the GDPR and the DSG, § 151 GewO also meets additional commercial regulations on the use of personal data for third-party marketing purposes by those authorized to practice the business of address publishers and direct marketing companies. As a "special data protection law" (cf. Risz in Ennöckl / N. Raschauer / Wessely, GewO § 151 Rn. 9 mwH), the provision contains regulations on the conditions under which address publishers and direct marketing companies may determine and use personal data.
11.) The direct advertiser must have data on the selected target groups in order to be able to achieve his corporate purpose. This is also in the interests of traders who commission a direct advertising company to carry out advertising campaigns. The flow of data between the trader and the direct advertising company must therefore be enabled, in both directions, but with the restriction that the transmission of data is always linked to the purpose of carrying out advertising campaigns (cf. Gruber / Paliege-Barfuß, GewO7, Section 151, marginal number 6)
12.) If - as in the present case - the data subjects (Art. 4 Z 11 GDPR) have not given their consent to the transmission of their data for third-party marketing purposes, address publishers and direct marketing companies may only use the data listed in Section 151 (5) first sentence of the GewO from a Identify a third party customer and prospect file system. A further requirement is that the owner of the file system has given the trader a written and safe declaration that the data subjects have been appropriately informed about the possibility of prohibiting the transmission of their data to third parties for marketing purposes and that no prohibition has been made (declaration of no objection).
13.) As a trader, the respondent received the complainant's address data from the customer and prospect file system of "Marketing *** XY AG" or "W *** Direkt GmbH". Since the declarations of no objection required for lawful processing are also available - as stated - the processing of the address data - salutation, name, date of birth and address - within the scope of marketing purposes, even without express consent, proved to be permissible and the complaints proved to be unfounded as a result (cf. also the decision of April 18, 2019, GZ: DSB-D123.986 / 0003-DSB / 2019).
14.) It was therefore to be decided according to the ruling.
D.3. To reject the applications for a claim for the damage incurred (point 2 of the ruling)
15.) The complainants also applied for appropriate compensation for the damage they (allegedly) suffered.
16.) Pursuant to Section 29 (1) GDPR, every person concerned who has suffered material or immaterial damage as a result of a violation of the GDPR or the GDPR is entitled to compensation from the person responsible under Art. 82 GDPR.
17.) It should be noted, however, that according to Section 29 (2) DSG, the regional court entrusted with exercising jurisdiction in civil law matters is responsible in the first instance for claims for damages.
18.) Due to the incompetence of the data protection authority, a decision had to be made according to the ruling.


European Case Law Identifier
ECLI: AT: DSB: 2021: 2021.0.568.642


1 calculated on the basis of gender, age and surname of the other people living in the household
2 income estimate assigned to you personally; calculated on the basis of statistical data such as community purchasing power, average income per regional statistical grid, age, gender and academic degree.
3 people have different habits and needs depending on the phase of life they are in. The phase of life model indicates the phase of life in which the person is. The phase of life is calculated based on gender, age, surname, other people living in the household and living environment.

  1. Please note that this type of company is specific to the Austrian legal system. For further information please see: https://www.rtr.at/TKP/was_wir_tun/telekommunikation/anbieterservice/information_for_providers.en.html