CJEU Case C-345/17 / Judgment
Key facts of the case:

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Augstākā tiesa. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Processing of personal data — Directive 95/46/EC — Article 3 — Scope — Video recording of police officers carrying out procedural measures in a police station — Publication on a video website — Article 9 — Processing of personal data solely for journalistic purposes — Meaning — Freedom of expression — Protection of privacy.

Outcome of the case:

On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby rules:

Article 3 of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data must be interpreted as meaning that the recording of a video of police officers in a police station, while a statement is being made, and the publication of that video on a video website, on which users can send, watch and share videos, are matters which come within the scope of that directive.

Article 9 of Directive 95/46 must be interpreted as meaning that factual circumstances such as those of the case in the main proceedings, that is to say, the video recording of police officers in a police station, while a statement is being made, and the publication of that recorded video on a video website, on which users can send, watch and share videos, may constitute a processing of personal data solely for journalistic purposes, within the meaning of that provision, in so far as it is apparent from that video that the sole object of that recording and publication thereof is the disclosure of information, opinions or ideas to the public, this being a matter which it is for the referring court to determine.
Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

41) In so far as they render inapplicable the system of protection of personal data provided for in Directive 95/46 and thus deviate from the objective underlying it, namely to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data, such as the right to respect for private and family life and the right to the protection of personal data, guaranteed by Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), the exceptions provided for in Article 3(2) of that directive must be interpreted strictly (see, to that effect, judgments of 27 September 2017, Puškár, C‑73/16, EU:C:2017:725, paragraph 38, and of 10 July 2018, Jehovan todistajat, C‑25/17, EU:C:2018:551, paragraph 37).

...

65 It should be noted that Article 7 of the Charter, concerning the right to respect for private and family life, contains rights which correspond to those guaranteed by Article 8(1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed at Rome on 4 November 1950, (‘the ECHR’) and that, in accordance with Article 52(3) of the Charter, Article 7 thereof is thus to be given the same meaning and the same scope as Article 8(1) ECHR, as interpreted by the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (judgment of 17 December 2015, WebMindLicenses, C‑419/14, EU:C:2015:832, paragraph 70). The same is true of Article 11 of the Charter and Article 10 ECHR (see, to that effect, judgment of 4 May 2016, Philip Morris Brands and Others, C‑547/14, EU:C:2016:325, paragraph 147).

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CJEU Case C-345/17 / Judgment

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