CNPD
COMMISSION
NATIONALE
POUR LA
PROTECTION
DES DONNEES
Deliberation No 16_RECLEU11_2026 of 10 February 2026 of the National Data Protection Commission, in a plenary session, on complaint file No 8.308 lodged against the company [REDACTED] via IMI Article 61 procedure 372519
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (hereinafter: the “GDPR”);
Having regard to the Act of 1 August 2018 on the organisation of the National Data Protection Commission and the general data protection framework;
Having regard to the Rules of Procedure of the National Data Protection Commission adopted by Decision No 07AD/2024 of 23 February 2024;
Having regard to the Procedure for complaints before the National Data Protection Commission adopted on 16 October 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the “Complaint Procedure before the CNPD”);
Having regard to the following:
# I. Facts and procedure
1. In the framework of the European cooperation, as provided for in Chapter VII of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR), the Supervisory Authority of Bavaria for the Private Sector in Germany submitted to the National Data Protection Commission (hereinafter: “the CNPD”) a complaint (national reference of the concerned authority: LDA-1085.3-387/22-I) via IMI in accordance with Article 61 procedure - 372519.
2. The complaint was lodged against the controller [REDACTED] (hereinafter [REDACTED] or the “controller”), who has its main establishment in Luxembourg. Under Article 56 GDPR, the CNPD is therefore competent to act as the lead supervisory authority.
3. The original IMI claim stated the following:
“We received a complaint to [REDACTED] regarding an access request. The complainant submits that the information provided to him in the context of Art. 15 GDPR does not comply with the legal requirements either in form (he requests information by postal letter) or in content.”
4. In essence, the complainant asks the CNPD to order the controller to comply with the complainant’s access request.
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CNPD
COMMISSION
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Deliberation No 16_RECLEU11_2026 of 10 February 2026 of the National Data Protection Commission, in a plenary session, on complaint file No 8.308 lodged against the company [REDACTED] via IMI Article 61 procedure 372519
5. The complaint is therefore based on Article 15 GDPR.
6. On the basis of this complaint and in accordance with Article 57(1)(f) GDPR, the CNPD requested [REDACTED] to take a position on the facts reported by the complainant and to provide a detailed description of the issue relating to the processing of the complainant's personal data, in particular with regard to his right of access.
7. The CNPD received the requested information within the deadlines set.
## II. In law
### 1. Applicable legal provisions
8. Article 77 GDPR provides that "without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, every data subject shall have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, (...) if the data subject considers that the processing of personal data relating to him or her infringes this Regulation."
9. In accordance with Article 15 GDPR "The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning him or her are being processed, and, where that is the case, access to the personal data and the following information (...)";
10. Pursuant to Article 15(3) GDPR, "The controller shall provide a copy of the personal data undergoing processing. For any further copies requested by the data subject, the controller may charge a reasonable fee based on administrative costs. Where the data subject makes the request by electronic means, and unless otherwise requested by the data subject, the information shall be provided in a commonly used electronic form."
11. Pursuant to Article 15(4) GDPR, "The right to obtain a copy referred to in paragraph 3 shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others."
12. In the cases referred to in Article 11 (2) GDPR, where "the controller is able to demonstrate that it is not in a position to identify the data subject, the controller shall inform the data subject accordingly, if possible. In such cases, Articles 15 to 20 shall not apply except where the data subject, for the purpose of exercising his
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CNPD
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Deliberation No 16_RECLEU11_2026 of 10 February 2026 of the National Data Protection Commission, in a plenary session, on complaint file No 8.308 lodged against the company [REDACTED] via IMI Article 61 procedure 372519
or her rights under those articles, provides additional information enabling his or her identification".
13. Furthermore, in application of Article 12(2) GDPR "the controller shall facilitate the exercise of data subject rights under Articles 15 to 22". Recital 59 GDPR emphasises that "Modalities should be provided for facilitating the exercise of the data subject's rights under this Regulation, including mechanisms to request and, if applicable, obtain, free of charge, in particular, access to and rectification or erasure of personal data and the exercise of the right to object. The controller should also provide means for requests to be made electronically, especially where personal data are processed by electronic means."
14. Article 56(1) GDPR provides that "(...) the supervisory authority of the main establishment or of the single establishment of the controller or processor shall be competent to act as lead supervisory authority for the cross-border processing carried out by that controller or processor in accordance with the procedure provided in Article 60";
15. According to Article 60(1) GDPR, "The lead supervisory authority shall cooperate with the other supervisory authorities concerned in accordance with this Article in an endeavour to reach consensus. The lead supervisory authority and the supervisory authorities concerned shall exchange all relevant information with each other";
16. According to Article 60(3) GDPR, "The lead supervisory authority shall, without delay, communicate the relevant information on the matter to the other supervisory authorities concerned. It shall without delay submit a draft decision to the other supervisory authorities concerned for their opinion and take due account of their views";
## 2. In the present case
17. Following the intervention of the Luxembourg supervisory authority, the controller confirmed that it took all the required actions to comply with the complainant's access request in accordance with the GDPR.
As a general rule, the controller does not print and send hard copy files to customers for practical reasons (e.g., scalability, and verification of content) and to avoid illegal access or loss. In addition, the controller stated that providing a copy of personal data in paper form may impair readability of the EXCEL or CSV files as standard formats on computers are not always readily printable.
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CNPD
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Deliberation No 16_RECLEU11_2026 of 10 February 2026 of the National Data Protection Commission, in a plenary session, on complaint file No 8.308 lodged against the company [REDACTED] via IMI Article 61 procedure 372519
The controller also states that [REDACTED] strive to help their customers and do invite them to contact them if they have any questions or experience any difficulties regarding the files provided in response to access requests. With regards to the elements shared by the complainant, [REDACTED] states that it understands that the complainant was able to access and open the files in his customer account.
Finally, [REDACTED] states that it understands that the complainant's ultimate concern relates to his or her ability to post community content. As a general matter, the controller refrains from disclosing to customers specific details about their monitoring and enforcement mechanisms relating to community content as these are confidential elements protecting the integrity of [REDACTED] systems.
In the light of the above, the CNPD concludes that the controller was entitled to limit the information provided to information that would not allow third parties to potentially circumvent its monitoring and enforcement system.
### 3. Outcome of the case
18. The CNPD, in a plenary session, therefore considers that, at the end of the investigation of the present complaint, the controller did not refuse to act on the complainant's right of access request, in accordance with Article 15 GDPR.
19. Thus, in the light of the foregoing, and the residual nature of the gravity of the alleged facts and the degree of impact on fundamental rights and freedoms, it does not appear necessary to continue to deal with that complaint.
In light of the above developments, the National Data Protection Commission, in a plenary session, after having deliberated, decides:
- To close the complaint file 8.308 upon completion of its investigation, in accordance with the Complaints Procedure before the CNPD. As per Article 60(7) GDPR, the lead supervisory authority shall adopt and notify the decision to the main establishment or single establishment of the controller.
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CNPD
COMMISSION
NATIONALE
POUR LA
PROTECTION
DES DONNEES
Deliberation No 16_RECLEU11_2026 of 10 February 2026 of the National Data Protection Commission, in a plenary session, on complaint file No 8.308 lodged against the company [REDACTED] via IMI Article 61 procedure 372519
Belvaux, dated 10 February 2026
The National Data Protection Commission
Chair
Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner
### Indication of remedies
This Administrative Decision may be the subject of an appeal for amendment within three months of its notification. Such an action must be brought by the interested party before the administrative court and must be brought by a lawyer at the Court of one of the Bar Associations.
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