NGOs file a complaint with the European Commission about the Austrian DPA’s budget cuts

Privacy advocacy group noyb and civil rights movement epicenter.works have filed a complaint with the European Commission to put a stop to the data protection authority’s budget cuts.

In its latest newsletter, Austria’s privacy regulator, the Datenschutzbehörde (DSB), announced that it would have to cut back on its activities due to upcoming budget cuts. The budget for 2024 was €5.7 million. In 2025, the DSB’s budget will be €6.1 million, and in 2026 it will be lowered to €5.9 million.

Both noyb and epicenter.works argue that these budget cuts will have devastating consequences for all Austrians. Compared to other European Member States, Austria’s privacy regulator is already underfunded. Germany, for example, spends about twice as much per capita on its DPAs as Austria.

The DSB has to enforce the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with a total of 53 employees and 19 interns, which is already pretty much impossible. For example, last year, the Austrian DPA received 3,813 privacy complaints, but was only able to issue 62 fines.

At the same time, the workload keeps growing due to artificial intelligence and targeting in political advertising. The DSB has said that it will no longer investigate companies on its own initiative.

“Data protection is everywhere. Almost every law touches on fundamental digital rights and must therefore be properly written in terms of quality. The government should actually know this. Cutting corners on data protection means losing direction for the future. This will result in poorer laws in the country and leave the field open to multinational corporations,” Sebastian Kneidinger, Policy Adviser at epicenter.works, says in a statement.

Max Schrems, Chairman of noyb, agrees with his colleague and advocates for increasing the number of fines and penalties to fund its duties.

“We now have an authority operating in emergency mode and courts that regularly leave cases unresolved without specific instructions from the highest court. The situation is completely unworthy of a constitutional state. If the DSB imposed proper fines, it would be a cash cow for Austria. A fine against Google alone would cover Austria's share of the Brenner Base Tunnel, which amounts to 6 billion,” he says.

To help a DPA in need, noyb and epicenter.works have joined forces and filed a complaint with the European Commission. The EU’s executive branch has the option to launch an investigation against Austria and reverse the DSB’s planned budget cuts.