DATA PROTECTION
Court of Bolzano: in civil proceedings, judges must order the redaction of excess personal da-ta and limit access to trial files.
The Court of Bolzano, with order rendered in proceedings no. 3662/2023 relating to a technical ex officio assessment in which - given the delicate nature of some personal data - one of the parties had requested the judge to apply the principles of data protection, applied the principles referred to in the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 2/3/2023 on the need, proportionality and minimisation of personal data processed in civil proceedings, which must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the defence purposes.
Consequently, not only can the parties to the proceedings make use of the data and information contained in any act of the proceedings only limited to the purposes of the action or defence, but the judge himself is obliged to order the obscuring of personal data that are excessive in those documents. The same principles also require that access to case files be restricted.
The Court of Justice of the EU ruled in 2023 that while the parties have the right to access the evidence necessary to adequately demonstrate the merits of their claims, even if this evidence may include personal data of the parties or third parties, it is nevertheless for the courts to determine whether the acquisition of personal data is adequate and relevant to the purposes of the defence and whether this objective cannot be achieved by resorting to less invasive means of evidence. If the court considers that the principles of proportionality and minimisation are at risk, it must impose additional measures on the parties such as pseudonymisation, restricting public access to the file or ordering the parties not to use the data for purposes other than the production of evidence.
Consequently, not only can the parties to the proceedings make use of the data and information contained in any act of the proceedings only limited to the purposes of the action or defence, but the judge himself is obliged to order the obscuring of personal data that are excessive in those documents. The same principles also require that access to case files be restricted.
The Court of Justice of the EU ruled in 2023 that while the parties have the right to access the evidence necessary to adequately demonstrate the merits of their claims, even if this evidence may include personal data of the parties or third parties, it is nevertheless for the courts to determine whether the acquisition of personal data is adequate and relevant to the purposes of the defence and whether this objective cannot be achieved by resorting to less invasive means of evidence. If the court considers that the principles of proportionality and minimisation are at risk, it must impose additional measures on the parties such as pseudonymisation, restricting public access to the file or ordering the parties not to use the data for purposes other than the production of evidence.
