MR JUSTICE WARBY
Approved Judgment
NT1 & NT2 v Google LLC
This wording falls to be interpreted and applied in the light of the corresponding
Article of the DP Directive, Article 14, which requires Member States to grant data
subjects the right to object to what may otherwise be lawful processing “on
compelling legitimate grounds relating to his particular situation”, and provides that
“Where there is a justified objection, the processing … may no longer involve those
data.”
28.
Section 14 of the DPA provides:
“Rectification, blocking, erasure and destruction
(1)
If a court is satisfied on the application of a data
subject that personal data of which the applicant is the subject
are inaccurate, the court may order the data controller to rectify,
block, erase or destroy those data and any other personal data in
respect of which he is the data controller and which contain an
expression of opinion which appears to the court to be based on
the inaccurate data.”
Neither of the claimants has claimed “rectification” of any of the data, only its
blocking or erasure.
29.
The wording of s 14 would seem to be narrower in scope than that of the
corresponding Article of the DP Directive. Article 12(b) requires Member States to
guarantee every data subject the right to obtain “as appropriate the rectification,
erasure or blocking of data the processing of which does not comply with the
provisions of this Directive, in particular because of the incomplete or inaccurate
nature of the data” (emphasis added). But any discrepancy appears to be immaterial
for present purposes, as Google takes no point on it.
30.
The claimants’ claim for compensation relies on s 13 of the DPA, which provides:
“13. Compensation for failure to comply with certain
requirements
(1) An individual who suffers damage by reason of any
contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of
this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for
that damage.
(2) An individual who suffers distress by reason of any
contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of
this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for
that distress if—
(a) the individual also suffers damage by reason of the
contravention, or
(b) the contravention relates to the processing of personal data
for the special purposes.
(3) In proceedings brought against a person by virtue of this
section it is a defence to prove that he had taken such care as in