The chassis number disclosed in an OGH ruling does not constitute data accessible for anonymisation within the meaning of § 15 (4) Austrian Supreme Court Act (hereinafter: OGHG) or personal data relating to the applicant within the meaning of Article 4 No 1 General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter: GDPR). The chassis number remains in the OGH ruling.
The applicant requested the subsequent anonymisation of the chassis number of his car from a 2002 ruling (the defendant at the time was not the applicant). The chassis numbers were not made anonymous in the context of the publication in the Austrian Federal Legal Information System. The applicant justified his application by claiming that it was not possible to sell the car, as prospective purchasers were unsettled by the previous ruling regarding tax evasion.
Art 17 (1) (a) GDPR provides that every data subject has the right to have personal data concerning him or her erased without undue delay if they are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected.
The chassis numbers disclosed in the ruling, which are now property of the applicant, do not constitute personal data as defined in Art 4 No 1 GDPR or data as defined in § 15 (4) OGHG. According to the OGHG, names and addresses are to be anonymised if conclusions can be drawn about persons from them. The application was therefore dismissed.
14 Os 103/02 (13 August 2018)