Legal summary
March 2023
Le Marrec v. France (communicated) - 52319/22
Article 8
Article 8-1
Respect for private life
Retroactive withdrawal of allowance after case review triggered by processing of applicant’s IP address without his knowledge: communicated
The applicant was in receipt of a social welfare allowance in the form of income support. In the course of processing his sign-in data the managing organisation (Caisse d’allocations familiales – Family Allowances Office) detected that he had submitted a quarterly statement of means from a foreign IP address. A review of his case was then undertaken. On completion of the review his entitlement to the allowance was withdrawn with retroactive effect.
The applicant challenged that decision on the ground inter alia that the processing of his sign‑in data had been invasive of his private life; he referred to a related decision of the Constitutional Council (no. 2019-789 QPC of 14 June 2019). In October 2021 the Administrative Court rejected his challenge but did not dispose of that ground. His application to the Conseil d’État for a review on points of law was summarily dismissed.
The applicant’s complaint to the European Court of Human Rights concerns the processing of his sign‑in data (in particular the geolocation of his IP address), which he argues was not subject to adequate legal safeguards, and the courts’ failure to address the privacy ground which he had raised in that regard.
Case communicated under Articles 8 and 6 § 1 of the Convention.
(See also, on the subject of IP addresses, Benedik v. Slovenia, 62357/14, 24 April 2018, Legal summary)
© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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