Judgment in Case C-582/14 Patrick Breyer v Bundesrepublik Deutschland

The European Court of Justice decided on 19 October 2016 that the operator of a website may have a legitimate interest in storing certain personal data relating to visitors to that website in order to protect itself against cyberattacks.

The Court clarified that the dynamic internet protocol address of a visitor constitutes personal data, with respect to the operator of the website, if that operator has the legal means allowing it to identify the visitor concerned with additional information about him which is held by the internet access provider.

• Primary Source

EurActiv, 19.10.16: ECJ rules in favour of Germany in IP address squabble http://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/ecj-rules-in-favour-of-germany-in-ip-address-squabble/

Deutsche Welle, 19.10.16: EU court: German government allowed to store IP addresses of its web visitors http://dw.com/p/2RQzq

Blog: EU Law Analysis, 04.01.17: IP addresses as personal data - the CJEU's judgment in C-582/14 Breyer http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/ip-addresses-as-personal-data-cjeus.html

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