The CJEU’s Weltimmo data privacy ruling: Lost in the Data Privacy Turmoil, Yet so very important

On 1 October 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its judgment in the dispute between Weltimmo s. r. o. (Welimmo) and the Hungarian data protection authority (Nemzeti Adatvedelmi es Informacioszabadsag Hatosag). The decision is of the greatest importance in the context of jurisdiction and applicable law, but it has been largely overshadowed by other developments – not least by the CJEU’s decision of 6 October 2015 invalidating the Safe Harbour scheme. Despite lacking time in the limelight the long-term implications of the Weltimmo decision may be at least as far-reaching as those of the Safe Harbour decision.