CJEU C-300/21 Österreichische Post: Right to Compensation and Non-Material Damage Under Art. 82

The 3 Cumulative Conditions of the Right to Compensation (Art. 82.1)

In its judgment Österreichische Post (C-300/21, ECLI:EU:C:2023:370), the CJEU recalled that the right to compensation established in Article 82(1) GDPR is subject to three cumulative conditions:

• A proven infringement of GDPR provisions;
• The actual existence of material or non-material damage suffered by the data subject;
• A direct causal link between the infringement and the damage suffered.

The Court clarified that a mere infringement of the GDPR does not automatically confer a right to compensation if no damage has resulted from it.

Absence of a De Minimis Threshold of Seriousness for Non-Material Damage

The CJEU formally rejected national rules that condition compensation on reaching a de minimis threshold of seriousness:

Any person who has suffered non-material damage (such as a feeling of loss of control, anxiety, or reputational harm), even of modest intensity, is entitled to full and effective compensation, provided that they substantiate the reality of that damage.

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