Bringing a case on an individual’s behalf is usually costly and time consuming. Especially if hundreds, thousands or even millions of users suffered from a violation, the company can make enormous profits, even if each violation may be too small for users to claim their rights. The EU has recognized this structural imbalance and passed the directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers (“collective redress directive”). The directive will allow organisations like noyb to file class actions for data protection violations on behalf of thousands of affected people.
According to this directive, all EU countries must ensure that organisations such as noyb can become so-called Qualified Entities, which allows them to sue companies that violate the GDPR and/or other laws via so-called “representative actions”. The Qualified Entities’ aim can be to stop a company’s illegal practices (via a so-called injunction) and/or demand compensation for damages via a so-called Collective Redress or Class Action. Thus, the qualified entity can act on behalf of thousands of affected individuals, providing them with access to justice and more effective and efficient court systems, while also deterring businesses that play against the rules.
To make good use of this directive, noyb
- has been acknowledged by the respective Austrian and Irish authorities as a Qualified Entity, which can take legal action in any EU country (see the appointments here)
- is preparing the first legal actions (see the information on the preparatory phase of such actions that noyb is obliged by law to publish here)
- further builds the necessary tools and infrastructure that power its representative actions across Europe and allow the management of a large number of concerned users (“legal tech”), for example via digital platforms that allow users to join collective actions
- cooperates with other Qualified Entities, for example via the European Commission´s REACT platform
- works on improving the European legal framework for other laws affecting representative actions such as Private International Law or rules for Third Party Funding of litigation