Court of Justice of the European Union : Sergejs Buivids v. Datu valsts inspekcija

On 14 February 2019 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) clarified the possibilities of the processing of personal data for journalistic purposes, as guaranteed under Article 9 of Directive 95/46 of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. The CJEU was requested by the Latvian Supreme Court to deliver a preliminary ruling on the question whether Mr. Buivids, who had posted a video on the internet showing public officials of the Latvian national police, without their consent, could rely on the exemption of Article 9 of Directive 95/46 (applicable at the time of the domestic proceedings against Mr. Buivids) allowing the processing of personal data ‘solely for journalistic purposes’. The question is of particular interest as Mr. Buivids is not a professional journalist, but eventually a citizen-journalist. As Article 9 of the former Directive 95/46 is similar (but not identical) to Article 85 of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 which is in force since 25 May 2018 (GDPR), the interpretation by the CJEU of the journalistic exemption under the former Directive 95/46 is also of relevance for the application of the processing of personal data for journalistic purposes under the actual GDPR. Article 85(1) GDPR requires the Member States to reconcile by law the right to the protection of personal data with the right to freedom of expression and information, including processing for journalistic purposes and the purposes of academic, artistic or literary expressio