The Court of Justice of the European Union's ruling of 27 February 2025 in case C-203/22 declared that data subjects are entitled to receive an understandable explanation about the logic behind automated credit assessment decisions. The case originated from a dispute between CK and Dun & Bradstreet Austria GmbH, where an Austrian mobile telephone operator refused to allow a customer to conclude a contract citing insufficient creditworthiness, which was determined based on Dun & Bradstreet's automated assessment. The contract would have involved a monthly payment of €10.
A significant finding of the Court is that the data controller must describe the procedure and principles actually applied in such a way that the data subject can understand which of their personal data have been used, and how they have been used, in the automated decision-making (Court of Justice judgment C-203/22 of 27 February 2025). According to the Court's decision, in order to meet the requirements of transparency and intelligibility, it could be particularly appropriate to inform the data subject of the extent to which a variation in the personal data taken into account would have led to a different result. By contrast, the mere communication of an algorithm does not constitute a sufficiently concise and intelligible explanation.
The Court also made a significant ruling regarding trade secrets. It stated that the GDPR precludes the application of a national provision which excludes, as a rule, the right of access where it would compromise a trade secret of the controller or of a third party. Where the controller takes the view that the information to be provided contains protected data of third parties or trade secrets, the controller must provide that allegedly protected information to the competent supervisory authority or court. It is for that authority or court to balance the rights and interests at issue with a view to determining the extent of the data subject's right of access to that information.
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Court of Justice: Latest press release covering judicial activity and rulings as of February 2025.
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Hannah-Louise Shergold
