Mapping Data Protection Legal Mobilization Before the CJEU The Need to Rethink a Success Story?

Abstract

The article explores data protection legal mobilisation before the Court of Justice of the EU (‘DPLM’).  It provides a theoretical framework to study DPLM before the CJEU and undertakes, for the first time, a comprehensive mapping of  this area. It does so by studying, all the data protection-related judgments delivered by the Court between 2014-2023. The mapping is crucial to shed light on the  characteristics and mechanisms of DPLM; it is also needed in order to unveil any potential blind spots of such mobilisation. The article asks: How can data protection legal mobilisation before the CJEU be understood through general mobilisation debates and theoretical frameworks? What are its main actors, objectives, topics and outcomes? What are its potential neglected aspects and omissions? The article argues that while DPLM as it emerges from our empirical study can be considered a successful story overall; it, nevertheless, appears elitist in its objectives, problems and actors. In this regard, we call for a critical rethinking of DPLM in order to transfer the data protection collective struggles of more marginalised social movements to the CJEU juridical field.