On the occasion of the extremely important information claims under the General Data Protection Regulation for insurance law practice, a pioneering ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH File number VI ZR 576/19). The BGH positioned itself with its decision on the range and thus also on the content of the right to information Article 15 GDPR of the policyholder towards his insurer.
The importance may be for the handling of insurance matters such as the processing of claims and Benefit cases, ultimately also insurance processes, cannot be misunderstood, since this often begins with a request for information about the data available to the insurer and thus the considerable – and perhaps also necessary – evidence can be secured.
–
–
What was the subject of the decision of the BGH?
The focus of the legal assessment was the interpretation of the term “personal data”, because only this can the policyholder request in the context of a right to information under data protection law. The BGH thus legally assessed which information is related to the person of the policyholder and is therefore also required to provide information in accordance with Article 15 GDPR.
As early as 2019, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne (20 U 75/18) interpreted the concept of personal data very broadly in the context of Article 15 GDPR and understood any information to be associated with a natural, identifiable person as relevant to the facts and therefore subject to disclosure.
What are personal data?
The Federal Court of Justice finally followed this assessment. In order to find the right law, the BGH referred to rulings already issued by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the scope of personal data, because this is absolutely necessary in the context of an interpretation in accordance with European law, since the GDPR is an EU regulation.
Accordingly, the term “personal data” potentially encompasses all objective and subjective information – such as notes, assessments and statements – as long as this information relates to the person concerned. Thus everything that can in any way be associated with the policyholder as a person is accessible for information.
–
