The CJEU's Weltimmo Data Privacy Ruling: Lost in the Data Privacy Turmoil, Yet so very important
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X1602300213 |
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
332 23 MJ 2 (2016)
THE CJEU’S WELTIMMO
DATAPRIVACY RULING
Lost in the Data Privacy Turmoil,
Yet So Very Important
Case C-230/14 Welt imm o, EU:C:2015:639
D J B. S*
§1. INTRODUCTION
On 1October 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down
its judgment in the dispute between Weltimmo s. r. o. (Weltimmo) and the Hungar ian
data protect ion authority (Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság).1
e decision is of the greatest importance in the context of jurisdiction and applicable
law, but it has been largely overshadowed by other developments – not least by the CJEU’s
decision of 6 October 2015 invalidati ng the Safe Harbour scheme.2 Despite lacking
time in the li melight the long-term implications of the Wel timmo deci sion m ay be at lea st
as far-reaching as those of the Sa fe Harbour decision.
§2. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Weltimmo is a company that runs a propert y dealing website. e company is registered
in Slovakia but the company website is focused on Hungarian properties. e business
model that brought Weltimmo to the attention of the Hunga rian data protection authorit y
* Professor and Co -Director, Centre for Commercial L aw, Faculty of Law, Bond University (Austral ia).
Visiting Profess or, Faculty of Law, Masaryk Universit y (Czech Republic). Researcher, Swedish Law &
Informatics Re search Instit ute, Stockholm Univers ity (Sweden). Professor Svantesson i s the recipient of
an A us tr al ia n Re se ar ch C ou nci l F utu re Fel lo wsh ip (pr oje ct n um ber FT 120 100 583 ). e views e xpressed
herein are those of t he author and are not necessa rily those of the Aust ralian Resea rch Council.
1 Case C-230/14 Welt immo , EU:C:2015:639.
2 Case C-362/14 Schrems, EU:C:2015:650.
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