Insufficient legal basis for data processing

The Spanish Data Protection Authority (Agencia Espanola Protection Datos) imposed 3 fines of €185.000 total on Vodafone Espana.

According to the data protection authority, XFERA MOVILES has violated Article 6(1) of the GDPR, as the company has unlawfully processed data, including bank details, customer address and name of the data subjects.

The fine preceded the complaint by the data subject, who argued that Vodafone España had signed a contract for the transfer of a telephone subscription with a third party without the data subject’s knowledge or consent and that, as a result, he, the data subject, had received an e-mail from the third party for a purchase made by him.

The fine was preceded by a complaint from the data subject, who argued that he had received an e-mail from Vodafone España, which contained the billing of a telephone line that the data subject had never requested, which led to his personal data being processed without his consent. As a result, the data subject’s personal data were incorporated into the information systems of Vodafone España without Vodafone being able to show that the data subject had consented to the collection and subsequent processing of his personal data. The fine of 100,000 EUR was reduced to 60,000 EUR due to a voluntary payment.