In the matter of the General Data Protection Regulation
DPC Complaint Reference:
IMI Number:
In the matter of a complaint, lodged by with the Bavarian Lander Office for Data
Protection Supervision (BayLDA) 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 06/2021 ON
THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF AMICABLE
SETTLEMENTS, ADOPTED 18 NOVEMBER 2021
Dated the 9th day of September 2022
Data Protection Commission
21 Fitzwilliam Square South
Dublin 2, Ireland
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Background
1. On 9 December 2019, (“the Data Subject”) lodged a complaint pursuant
to Article 77 GDPR with the Bavarian Lander Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA)
(“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 4 June 2020.
The Complaint
3. The details of the complaint were as follows:
a. The Data Subject contacted the Respondent on 10 November 2019 to raise concerns
regarding:
i. the Respondent’s collection of, use of, and access to, recordings of phone
calls made by him to the Respondent’s customer care team on 28 October
2019, and the legal basis relied upon for such recordings;
ii. the information provided by the Respondent in relation to its recording of
phone calls pursuant to its transparency obligations under GDPR;
iii. the personal information requested by the Respondent (namely, the Data
Subject’s name, email address and contact number), upon the Data Subject’s
objection to his call being recorded, in order to arrange a call back to the Data
Subject on an unrecorded line; and
iv. the legal basis for requesting that personal information.
b. The Data Subject also requested that his call recording containing personal data held
by the Respondent be erased, and requested the contact details of the Respondent’s
Data Protection Officer.
c. As the Data Subject was not satisfied with the response received from the Respondent
regarding the concerns raised, the Data Subject lodged a complaint with their
supervisory authority.
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
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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/her data subject rights).
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 the Respondent in
relation to the subject matter of the complaint. Further to that engagement, the Respondent:
a. Explained that it was the controller for the personal data of all users within the EEA
and Switzerland and its regional organisations, including those located in Germany;
b. Provided the Data Subject with contact details of its Data Protection Officer, with
information as to where and how they could get in contact with its Data Protection
Officer;
c. Notified the Data Subject of the reasons for the collection of certain information
required in order to facilitate a call back on an unrecorded line;
d. Explained to the Data Subject its reliance on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR as the legal basis for
the recording of phone calls with users, specifically with regards to the use of these
phone recordings for training and evaluation purposes; and
e. Confirmed that all call recordings related to the Data Subject had been permanently
erased.
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