On 8 January 2025, the General Court in Case T-354/22 (Bindl v
Commission) awarded Thomas Bindl €400 damages in respect of an
unlawful transfer of his personal data to the US via a Facebook
sign-in link on a European Commission website.
The decision is a reminder of the broad approach of the European
courts to the concept of non-material damage, and the strict
interpretation of the requirements for robust controls in the
context of EU-US transfers.
The timing of the unlawful transfer (30 March 2022) is relevant
as at that point, following the Schrems II ruling, the European
Commission had not yet adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-US
Data Privacy Framework in respect of adequate protection for
personal data transferred from the EU to companies participating in
the Framework.
