EN
The case concerns a citizen of North Macedonia who accused the domestic authorities of fai- ling to protect his personal data from unlawful processing by a private heat supplier. Despite the fact that the complainant did not use the services provided by the company or enter into any contract with it, he repeatedly received invoices from the company. The domestic civil courts declared the payment requests issued by the company invalid, while at the same time the Macedonian Personal Data Protection Directorate rejected the complainant’s claim, deeming the data processing lawful. The Administrative Court found that there was a violation of the law, but this ruling was overturned by the Higher Administrative Court. The complainant lodged the application with the European Court of Human Rights, which found that the domestic authorities had failed to ensure effective protection of the right to respect for private life. The Court reiterated the obligation of member States to effectively protect against privacy violations by both public and private entities.