On 17 September 2026, the European Commission unveiled its proposal for the EU KIDS Act (EU Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy), a harmonised EU framework designed to reshape how children engage with online services. The proposal goes well beyond age verification requirements and seeks to fundamentally change the design of digital services used…

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In its judgment of May 13, 2025 (case number VI ZR 186/22), the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – “BGH”) continued its case law on the compensability of non-material damages under Article 82 GDPR, in particular with regard to whether the mere loss of control over personal data was sufficient for a…

Continue Reading Germany: Further Judgment on Non-Material Damages for Loss of Control over Personal Data

On 14 May 2025, the Brussels Court of Appeal (Market Court) delivered the long-awaited judgement in the case concerning the Transparency & Consent Framework (“TCF”) (case no. 2022/AR/292). The Court largely upheld the findings of the Belgian Data Protection Authority (“Belgian DPA”), concluding that the TCF’s use of the Transparency and Consent…

Continue Reading EU: Brussels Court of Appeal rules on IAB Europe and the TC String – Implications for GDPR Compliance

In a decision on immaterial damages under Article 82 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Higher Regional Court of Dresden, Germany (case number 4 U 940/24), set out important monitoring and auditing obligations of controllers with respect to their processors.  

The controller (defendant) operates an online music…

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On April 9, 2025, the coalition agreement of the future German Federal Government, consisting of the three German parties CDU, CSU and SPD, was published. The document entitled “Responsibility for Germany” contains several plans, including some that may fundamentally change the German data protection supervisory authority structure and that aim to ease the regulatory burden…

Continue Reading Germany: New government plans to centralize data protection supervision and reduce regulation for small and medium-sized companies

In its judgement of November 18, 2024 (case number VI ZR 10/24) the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – “BGH”) clarified key legal issues regarding claims for damages under Article 82 GDPR in the event of a mere loss of control of personal data in the Facebook scraping complex. This blog…

Continue Reading Germany: Update: Judgment on Non-Material Damages for Loss of Control over Personal Data

On November 18, 2024, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – “BGH”) made a (to date unpublished) judgment under the case number VI ZR 10/24 regarding claims for non-material damages pursuant to Art. 82 GDPR, due to the loss of control over personal data.

The judgment is based on a personal…

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Introduction

In its judgement of 04 October 2024 (C-21/23), the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”, “Court”) ruled, that the provisions of Chapter VIII of the GDPR, do not preclude national rules which grant undertakings the right to rely, on the basis of the prohibition of acts of unfair competition…

Continue Reading EU: ECJ rules that competitors are entitled to bring an injunction claim based on an infringement of the GDPR.

Introduction

Identifiability; what can amount to personal data; and joint controllership are some of the issues addressed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in its recent judgment in the IAB Europe case (C-604/22). This case concerned the use of personal data for online advertising purposes and the use…

Continue Reading CJEU ruling clarifies data protection and e-privacy issues in the ad-tech space

Authors: James Clark and Verena Grentzenberg

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has delivered an important judgment on the scope and interpretation of the ‘automated decision-making’ framework under the GDPR.  It is a decision that could have significant implications for service providers who use algorithms to produce automated scores, profiles…

Continue Reading EU: Significant new CJEU decision on automated decision-making