Your Right to Compensation
If you have suffered material or non-material damage as a result of an infringement of the GDPR by a data controller or processor then you have the right to seek compensation in the courts.
Material harm is usually something that has quantifiable monetary value: loss of assets in a case of identity theft, loss of wages etc.
Non-material harm is something that doesn’t have a directly quantifiable monetary value: fear, anxiety, stress, possibly caused by loss of control over personal data in the event of a data breach.
Your right to compensation set out in Article 82 of the GDPR. The full text of this article is at the bottom of this page.
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1. Any person who has suffered material or non-material damage as a result of an infringement of this Regulation shall have the right to receive compensation from the controller or processor for the damage suffered. 2. Any controller involved in processing shall be liable for the damage caused by processing which infringes this Regulation. A processor shall be liable for the damage caused by processing only where it has not complied with obligations of this Regulation specifically directed to processors or where it has acted outside or contrary to lawful instructions of the controller. 3. A controller or processor shall be exempt from liability under paragraph 2 if it proves that it is not in any way responsible for the event giving rise to the damage. 4. Where more than one controller or processor, or both a controller and a processor, are involved in the same processing and where they are, under paragraphs 2 and 3, responsible for any damage caused by processing, each controller or processor shall be held liable for the entire damage in order to ensure effective compensation of the data subject. 5. Where a controller or processor has, in accordance with paragraph 4, paid full compensation for the damage suffered, that controller or processor shall be entitled to claim back from the other controllers or processors involved in the same processing that part of the compensation corresponding to their part of responsibility for the damage, in accordance with the conditions set out in paragraph 2. 6. Court proceedings for exercising the right to receive compensation shall be brought before the courts competent under the law of the Member State referred to in Article 79(2).
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