German Court Rules On Email GDPR Damages

• by Ray Schultz , December 13, 2018

A German firm has avoided paying damages for sending an email requesting consent to send a newsletter. But that could be scant comfort to GDPR violators, according to an analysis by Lexology.

The plaintiff, a consumer who demanded €500.00 in immaterial damages, was denied that sum because the firm in question had already made an “ex gratia” payment of €50.00. The court dismissed the action.

However, Lexology warns that serious penalties could result if hundreds or thousands of people also received the email and objected.

It adds that “a mere infringement of the GDPR without causing damage would not lead directly to the liability of the controller.”

It also explains that “the data subject must have experienced a noticeable disadvantage and it must be an objectively comprehensible impairment of personal rights with a certain weight.”

The case is a cautionary note for email newsletter publishers who may not be familiar with the nuances of GDPR.

In other GDPR-related news, Google announced that its GDPR compliance efforts and data requests will be handled by its Dublin office, not from its U.S.-based service provider. The firm’s subsidiary, Google Ireland Limited, will become the new service provider in an effort to better comply with GDPR, the Verge reports.