On 13 July 2017, the Court of Gelderland in preliminary relief proceedings rendered an important judgment on the processing of personal data when using an access card for waste that is stored in underground containers. The Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) found that the Municipality of Arnhem was acting in violation of the Personal Data Protection Act (Wbp) because personal data were processed without this being necessary for the public-law duty. However, the DPA had refrained from taking enforcement action because the municipality intended to introduce a new waste system that would make the processing of personal data necessary and would therefore put an end to the breaches of the Wbp that had been observed. The court ruled that the DPA had wrongfully refrained from enforcement action because it should not have assumed that there was a concrete prospect of legalization, since there was still discussion within the municipality about the introduction of the new system. The DPA recently imposed an order under penalty clause on the municipality to ensure that the use of the current access card system is discontinued and that personal data already stored is removed.
Date: 18 August 2017
ECLI: ECLI:NL:RBG:2017:3665
Author: Christien Saris