Case C-73/07

Tietosuojavaltuutettu

v

Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy

and

Satamedia Oy

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Korkein hallinto-oikeus)

(Directive 95/46/EC – Scope – Processing and flow of tax data of a personal nature – Protection of natural persons – Freedom of expression)

Summary of the Judgment

1.        Approximation of laws – Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data – Directive 95/46

(European Parliament and Council Directive 95/46, Art. 3(1))

2.        Approximation of laws – Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data – Directive 95/46

(European Parliament and Council Directive 95/46, Art. 9)

3.        Approximation of laws – Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data – Directive 95/46

(European Parliament and Council Directive 95/46)

1.        Article 3(1) of Directive 95/46 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, which governs the scope of application of the directive, is to be interpreted as meaning that an activity in which data on the earned and unearned income and the assets of natural persons are:

– collected from documents in the public domain held by the tax authorities and processed for publication,

– published alphabetically in printed form by income bracket and municipality in the form of comprehensive lists,

– transferred onward on CD-ROM to be used for commercial purposes, and,

– processed for the purposes of a text-messaging service whereby mobile telephone users can, by sending a text message containing details of an individual’s name and municipality of residence to a given number, receive in reply information concerning the earned and unearned income and assets of that person,

must be considered as the ‘processing of personal data’ within the meaning of that provision.

(see para. 37, operative part 1)

2.        Article 9 of Directive 95/46 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, which governs the relationship between the protection of such data and freedom of expression, is to be interpreted as meaning that an activity in which data on the earned and unearned income and the assets of natural persons are:

– collected from documents in the public domain held by the tax authorities and processed for publication,

– published alphabetically in printed form by income bracket and municipality in the form of comprehensive lists,

– transferred onward on CD-ROM to be used for commercial purposes, and,

– processed for the purposes of a text-messaging service whereby mobile telephone users can, by sending a text message containing details of an individual’s name and municipality of residence to a given number, receive in reply information concerning the earned and unearned income and assets of that person,

must be considered as activities involving the processing of personal data carried out ‘solely for journalistic purposes’, within the meaning of that provision, if the sole object of those activities is the disclosure to the public, irrespective of the medium which is used to transmit them, of information, opinions or ideas. Whether that is the case is a matter for the national court to determine.

In any event, those activities are not limited to media undertakings and may be undertaken for profit-making purposes.

(see paras 61-62, operative part 2)

3.        The scope of application of Directive 95/46 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data extends to the processing of personal data which consists in transferring onward on CD-ROM, in order for them to be used for commercial purposes, data on the earned and unearned income and the assets of natural persons which has been collected from documents in the public domain held by the tax authorities and processed for publication and which has already been published in the media. The scope of application of the directive also extends to the processing of such data for the purposes of a text-messaging service whereby mobile telephone users can, by sending a text message containing details of an individual’s name and municipality of residence to a given number, receive those data.

(see para. 49, operative part 3)