Bodil Lindqvist v Åklagarkammaren i Jönköping

Bodil Lindqvist v Åklagarkammaren i Jönköping (2003) is a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (European Court of Justice). It held that referring to various persons on an internet page and identifying them either by name or by other means constitutes processing of personal data by automatic means within the meaning of Community law.[1]

Bodil Lindqvist v Åklagarkammaren i Jönköping
European Court of Justice
Submitted 1 March 2001 Decided 6 November 2003
Full case name	Bodil Lindqvist v Åklagarkammaren i Jönköping
Case number	Case C-101/01
ECLI	ECLI:EU:C:2003:596
Case Type	Reference for a preliminary ruling
Chamber	Full chamber
Nationality of parties	Swedish
Procedural history	Reference of the Göta hovrätt (Sweden)
Ruling
Referring to various persons on an internet page and identifying them either by name or by other means constitutes processing of personal data by automatic means within the meaning of Community law.
Court composition
Judge-Rapporteur D.A.O. Edward
President P. Jann
Judges C.W.A. Timmermans C. Gulmann J.N. Cunha Rodrigues A. Rosas J.-P. Puissochet F. Macken S. von Bahr
Advocate General A. Tizzano
Legislation affecting
Interprets Directive 95/46/EC
Keywords
Directive 95/46/EC - Scope - Publication of personal data on the internet - Place of publication - Definition of transfer of personal data to third countries - Freedom of expression - Compatibility with Directive 95/46 of greater protection for personal data under the national legislation of a Member State

It was the first time the Court ruled on the scope of Directive 95/46/EC (Data Protection Directive) and freedom of movement for such data on the internet.[2] It was cited in Costeja (2014), a controversial ruling that held an internet search engine operator established in the European Union (EU) is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal information that appears on web pages published by third parties, confirming a right of erasure widely regarded as a so-called right to be forgotten.[3]