In the matter of the General Data Protection Regulation
DPC Complaint Reference:
IMI reference:
In the matter of a complaint, lodged by with the Belgian Data Protection
Authority pursuant to Article 77 of the General Data Protection Regulation, concerning
Record of Amicable Resolution of the complaint and its consequent withdrawal pursuant to
Section 109(3) of the Data Protection Act, 2018
Further to the requirements of Internal EDPB Document 06/2021 on the practical implementation
of amicable settlements (adopted on 18 November 2021)
RECORD OF AMICABLE RESOLUTION FOR THE
PURPOSE OF INTERNAL EDPB DOCUMENT 06/2021ON
THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF AMICABLE
SETTLEMENTS, ADOPTED 18 NOVEMBER 2021
Dated the 2nd day of September 2022
Data Protection Commission
21 Fitzwilliam Square South
Dublin 2, Ireland
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Background
1. On 24 July 2019, (“the Data Subject”) lodged a complaint pursuant to
Article 77 GDPR with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (“the Recipient SA”) concerning
(“the Respondent”).
2. In circumstances where the Data Protection Commission (“the DPC”) was deemed to be the
competent authority for the purpose of Article 56(1) GDPR, the Recipient SA transferred the
complaint to the DPC on 21 October 2019.
The Complaint
3. The details of the complaint were as follows:
a. The Data Subject contacted the Respondent on a number of occasions to request,
pursuant to Article 17 GDPR, the deletion of his account held with the
Respondent.
b. The Respondent failed to delete the account in accordance with the Data Subject’s
request.
Action taken by the DPC
4. The DPC, pursuant to Section 109(4) of the Data Protection Act, 2018 (“the 2018 Act”), is
required, as a preliminary matter, to assess the likelihood of the parties to the complaint
reaching, within a reasonable time, an amicable resolution of the subject-matter of the
complaint. Where the DPC considers that there is a reasonable likelihood of such an amicable
resolution being concluded between the parties, it is empowered, by Section 109(2) of the
2018 Act, to take such steps as it considers appropriate to arrange or facilitate such an
amicable resolution.
5. Following a preliminary examination of the material referred to it by the Recipient SA, the DPC
considered that there was a reasonable likelihood of the parties concerned reaching, within a
reasonable time, an amicable resolution of the subject matter of the complaint. The DPC’s
experience is that complaints of this nature are particularly suitable for amicable resolution in
circumstances where there is an obvious solution to the dispute, if the respondent is willing
to engage in the process. In this regard, the DPC had regard to:
a. The relationship between the Data Subject and Respondent (being, in this case, an
individual service user and a service provider); and
b. The nature of the complaint (in this case, an unsuccessful attempt by the Data Subject
to exercise his data subject rights).
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6. While not relevant to the assessment that the DPC is required to carry out pursuant to Section
109(4) of the 2018 Act, the DPC also had regard to Internal EDPB Document 06/2021 on the
practical implementation of amicable settlements, adopted on 18 November 2021
(“Document 06/2021”), and considered that:
a. the possible conclusion of the complaint by way of amicable resolution would not
hamper the ability of the supervisory authorities to maintain the high level of
protection that the GDPR seeks to create; and that
b. such a conclusion, in this case, would likely carry advantages for the Data Subject,
whose rights under the GDPR would be vindicated swiftly, as well as for the controller,
who would be provided the opportunity to bring its behaviour into compliance with
the GDPR.
Amicable Resolution
7. The DPC engaged with both the Data Subject (via the Recipient SA) and Respondent in relation
to the subject-matter of the complaint. Further to that engagement, on 30 June 2020, the
Respondent wrote to the DPC to confirm that it had now deleted the Data Subject’s account
and stated that it would contact the Data Subject to confirm the deletion and to apologise for
any inconvenience caused. The Respondent also informed the DPC that the Data Subject had
a second account and that it would contact the Data Subject to ask whether he wishes for this
second account to be deleted too.
8. On 2 October 2020, the Data Subject requested that his second account be deleted too, and
noted that confirmation of the deletion of his first account had not been provided to him by
the Respondent.
9. On 4 March 2021, the Respondent confirmed to the DPC that the Data Subject’s first account
had been deleted and that the second account had been queued for deletion and was
expected to be deleted within the coming days.
10. On 19 April 2021, the DPC sent a letter to the Recipient SA for onward transmission to the
Data Subject. The letter requested that the Data Subject confirm if he had received
confirmation from the Respondent as to the erasure of his personal data and also whether
the actions taken by the Respondent to delete the Data Subject’s two accounts was sufficient
to resolve the issues raised in his complaint. The letter also stated that if the Data Subject had
any outstanding concerns in respect of the issues raised in his complaint to set those out in
order to assist the DPC in progressing the matter further on his behalf. In the circumstances,
the DPC asked the Data Subject to notify it, within two months, if he was not satisfied with
the outcome so that the DPC could take further action.
11. The DPC did not receive any further communication from the Data Subject and, accordingly,
the complaint has been deemed to have been amicably resolved.
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