Kingsley Hayes and Simon Ridding comment on the European Court of Justice’s GDPR compensation threshold ruling in Law360

Partner Kingsley Hayes and Senior Associate Simon Ridding have discussed the implications of the European Court of Justice’s recent refusal to set a minimum threshold for data protection compensation claims in Law360 and The Register.

Kingsley’s comments were published in The Register, 4 May 2023, here. Kingsley and Simon’s comments were also published in Law360, 5 May 2023, here.

Kingsley commented: “There is no minimum level of harm that someone has to show in order to be eligible for compensation.

“This ruling is good news for people seeking compensation in data breach cases, as it provides a clearer path to seeking damages for GDPR violations.”

Simon added that while ECJ’s ruling is not binding on the courts in England and Wales following Brexit, the decision is still “highly persuasive” and will encourage claimants to seek data protection damages.

“It is going to open up more arguments in terms of the applicable law. The defendants will pivot their arguments to say that EU law is not binding so it can be ignored.”