PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALS REGARDING PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING - THE ANALYSIS OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CASE-LAW SELECTION

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the topic of personal data protection through an analysis of problematic issues of selected judgments rendered by the Court of Justice of the European Union, with an overview of the relevant provisions of applicable law. Furthermore, highlighting and emphasizing the importance of this area while presenting the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which now more than ever faces the problems posed by the protection of personal data. A large number of citizens are not even aware of unauthorized intervention into their privacy, more precisely the processing of their personal data without their consent. The paper presents three recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the personal data processing without the knowledge or without consent. JudgmentS No C-40/17 and C-210/16 present cases of personal data processing by the mere fact of visiting websites, ie fan pages on Facebook, without given consent of the user. Therefore, the definition of consent as a valid legal basis will be given in context of the Judgment C-673/17. Consent must be given by active action because Regulation 2016/679 clearly stipulates that any consent must be given clearly, explicitly and unambiguously. In addition, an example of joint supervision will be given, ie when two or more entities participate in the personal data processing. The issue of joint supervision is a recent issue in case law, so with each new decision the Court of Justice of the European Union expands the interpretation of this issue. Thus, the European Union aims at establishing high standards of personal data protection at Member States level not only by its legislative framework, but also by jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as by establishing certain procedural mechanisms comprising an appropriate model of protection.