Federal Court Of Justice Judgment On Non-Material Damage Under The GDPR In "Scraping" Cases

Today, the German Federal Court of Justice ("FCJ") pronounced its landmark judgment in the "scraping" case and issued a press release on the decision. The Court ruled that data subjects affected by data protection infringements can, in some cases, claim damages even solely on the basis of the loss of control over their personal data. Previously, many German courts assumed that data subjects also have to prove that they suffered feelings of anxiety or fear. This often meant that judges had to carefully assess such alleged damage based on the claimant's personality, the specific circumstances and the evidence offered by the claimant. Now that loss of control has been recognised as a potential form of damage, claimants have a new straightforward basis for pursuing claims for compensation under Article 82 GDPR. However, a claimant will still have to prove that such loss of control actually occurred, and the amount of compensation for this type of damage is likely to