Archive · Past event
Consent and telecom contracts — 2020 archive
An archive from 27 November 2020 concerning the Orange România judgment (C-61/19). The topic is evidence of freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous consent when collecting copies of identity documents. Pre-ticked boxes and conditions that obstruct refusal do not, by themselves, demonstrate valid consent.
This is a historical summary of an earlier dpa.bg publication. Dates, prices, roles, schedules and legal statements in the former publication refer to that period; they are not a current offer or legal advice.
Original publication — historical text
Original material from 2020. The Bulgarian text preserves the former publication, including wording from that period. The English version conveys its historical content. This is not an updated legal analysis; do not rely on the mechanisms or grounds described without checking current requirements and the specific circumstances.
The Court of Justice of the European Union concluded that a telecommunications services contract containing a clause stating that the data subject had been informed about, and agreed to, the collection and storage of a copy of an identity document for identification purposes was not sufficient to establish valid consent in the following circumstances:
Where the controller had ticked the consent clause before the contract was signed, and where the contractual terms could mislead the data subject about the ability to conclude the contract.
Where the controller unjustifiably interfered with the data subject’s freedom to oppose the collection and storage of personal data by requiring an additional form recording a refusal to consent.
The judgment arose from a case involving Orange România SA, a provider of mobile telecommunications services in Romania. On 28 March 2018, Romania’s National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing imposed a fine for collecting and storing copies of customers’ identity documents without their express consent.
The Court recalled that EU law specifies the circumstances in which personal data processing may be lawful. In particular, consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous. Silence, pre-ticked boxes and inactivity do not constitute valid consent.
Source: the preserved original dpa.bg publication at this address. The English text is an archive translation.
