European Court: Data Protection Directive Applies To Jehovah's Witnesses Information Collected In Preaching

In Tietosuojavaltuutettu v Jehovan todistajat — uskonnollinen yhdyskunta,  (CJEU, July 10, 2018), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that the European Parliament's Directive 95/46 on protection of individuals' personal data applies to collection and manual processing of personal data by Jehovah's Witnesses in the course of their door-to-door preaching. The question arose in a request for a ruling made by Finland's Data Protection Supervisor.  The court also issued a press release summarizing the court's decision. Law & Religion UK blog reports on the decision.