EU Court of Justice · 4 May 2023
Österreichische Post (damages)
In plain English
A breach of the GDPR does not on its own give a right to compensation: the person must show damage caused by it. But national law cannot require non-material damage, such as distress, to reach a minimum level of seriousness.
What the court ruled
the mere infringement of the provisions of that regulation is not sufficient to confer a right to compensation.
Article 82(1) of Regulation 2016/679 must be interpreted as precluding a national rule or practice which makes compensation for non-material damage, within the meaning of that provision, subject to the condition that the damage suffered by the data subject has reached a certain degree of seriousness.
Related
The official text is quoted word for word from the English version of the source named under it; only the version published in the court’s own records is authoritative. The plain-English line is Fino’s own summary, not legal advice.