Friday 4th October 2024
EU Judgment in case C-21/23 Lindenapotheke
(Principles, objectives and tasks of the Treaties – Data protection)
This reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice, Germany) concerns the interpretation of different articles of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘the GDPR’) in relation to, first, the system of remedies established by that regulation and, second, the category of particularly sensitive data consisting of ‘data concerning health’.
This reference is made in the context of a civil dispute between two pharmacy operators in Germany concerning the right to distribute medicinal products sold exclusively in pharmacies on the online sales platform ‘Amazon-Marketplace’.
The claimant at first instance operates under the trade name ‘Winthir Apotheke’ and the defendant operates under the trade name ‘Lindenapotheke’.
Lindenapotheke holds a mail order licence and markets its product range on its own online platform. In addition, in 2017 Lindenapotheke offered its product range, which includes medicines sold exclusively in pharmacies, on the ‘Amazon-Marketplace’ online sales platform. Winthir Apotheke brought an action against Lindenapotheke, requesting that Lindenapotheke be prohibited, subject to a fine, from marketing, for competition purposes, medicines subject to sale in pharmacies via the Amazon- Marketplace online sales platform, as long as the registration or purchase process via that online sales platform does not guarantee that the customer has given his prior consent to the collection, storage and use of his health data to a person or institution authorised to process those data.
The request for a preliminary ruling was then made in the context of an action for an injunction, based on the prohibition, in national law, of acts of unfair competition, and brought by an undertaking with a view to putting an end to the online marketing of non-prescription medicines by one of its competitors.
The alleged act of unfair competition consists, according to that undertaking, of failure to comply with the requirements arising from the GDPR with regard to the processing of ‘data concerning health’.
The Court is asked to define the outlines of the concept of ‘data concerning health’ that determine whether an enhanced protection regime is applicable.
Freitag, 4. Oktober 2024
Urteil des Gerichtshofs (Große Kammer) in der Rechtssache C‑21/23 Lindenapotheke
Verkauf apothekenpflichtiger, aber rezeptfreier Medikamente über Amazon
Ein Apotheker beanstandet vor den deutschen Gerichten, dass ein anderer Apotheker rezeptfreie apothekenpflichtige Arzneimittel über Amazon verkauft.
Er macht geltend, der andere verstoße dabei gegen die Datenschutzgrundverordnung. Er verarbeite nämlich Gesundheitsdaten seiner Kunden, ohne dass diese darin eingewilligt hätten. Das sei unlauterer Wettbewerb.
Der Bundesgerichtshof möchte vom EuGH wissen, ob man einen Konkurrenten wegen Verstoßes gegen die Datenschutzgrundverordnung vor den Zivilgerichten verklagen kann.
Außerdem möchte er wissen, ob die bei der Bestellung angegebenen Daten überhaupt Gesundheitsdaten sind, denn bei rezeptfreien Arzneimitteln bleibe unklar, für wen sie letztlich bestimmt sind.
Generalanwalt Szpunar hat in seinen Schlussanträgen vom 25. April 2024 die u.a. Ansicht vertreten, dass die Daten der Kunden eines Apothekers, die bei der Bestellung von apothekenpflichtigen, aber nicht verschreibungspflichtigen Arzneimitteln auf einer Online-Verkaufsplattform übermittelt werden, keine „Gesundheitsdaten“ darstellten. Aus ihnen könnten nämlich nur hypothetische oder ungenaue Rückschlüsse auf den Gesundheitszustand der Person, die die Online-Bestellung vornehme, gezogen werden.
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