Huge fine for Aldi in Hungary!

Every person who bought alcohol was asked for their ID card in Aldi. Their date of birth was recorded and the data was stored for 180 days. This is a serious infringement and Aldi has now been fined for this practice.

The supermarket chain was the subject of a consumer protection investigation in 2022 for asking people to show their ID cards when buying alcohol in its stores. They did it even when it was clear that the customers were over 18, Index reports.

There have also been several privacy complaints against Aldi in connection with the case. Some of the complainants asked in vain for information on the legal basis on which the store wanted to record their date of birth, and did not receive it, hvg.hu writes.

The proceedings of the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság, NAIH) revealed that Aldi did not only use the recording of birth dates to calculate the age of the customer. This data was stored for 180 days, so that the chain’s data processors had access to it.

Aldi’s practice was considered a data breach by the NAIH. As a result, the retail chain was ordered to pay a HUF 95 million (EUR 250,000) data protection fine, review its age verification practices and publish a privacy notice on data processing at its premises, hvg.hu concludes.

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