In a ruling dated 7 March 2022 (docket no. 26 K 406/19), the Düsseldorf Administrative Court decided that the transcript of an employee appraisal in which a colleague made critical comments about the plaintiff does not have to be disclosed as part of a right to access request under article 15 of the GDPR. Article 15 of the GDPR is not intended to serve as a means to obtain personal data about other persons (in this case, the work colleague). The rights and freedoms of such other persons would be affected if their data (in this case, the interview transcripts) were released.
Conclusion: Transcripts of conversations which do not contain any statements by the person requesting information, but only statements about the person requesting information, cannot be requested pursuant to article 15 of the GDPR. The rights and freedoms of the person(s) whose information is requested outweigh the interests of the person(s) requesting the information.
IT and Data Protection Newsletter – Germany Summer 2022 edition | Perspectives | Reed Smith LLP
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