Austrian Post has been ordered to pay €18 million for selling data about customers' assumed political allegiances. The postal service, which is traded on markets but majority publicly owned, will appeal the decision.
Image: picture-alliance/H.Punz
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Austrian Post has been ordered to pay €18 million ($20 million) for collecting and selling mailers' perceived political preferences.
The Austrian Data Protection Authority decided on the administrative penalty after finding that the postal service had violated privacy regulations, the Justice Ministry announced in a press release late Tuesday.
In January, the investigative journalism platform Addendum reported that Austrian Post was selling the names, addresses, ages and genders of about 3 million customers to marketing companies.
Employees of Austrian Post even made educated guesses about the political affinities of 2.2 million people who sent mail and sold that information to parties in search of new members. Austrian Post's direct-mailings division generates annual revenues of about €200 million.
Following the report, representatives had announced that the postal service would delete its database of the likely leanings of about 2.2 million customers. At the time, Austrian Post had pledged to restructure its entire database "along new lines."
Epicenter.works, which advocates for a responsible digitization of society, argued that this breaches EU data protection rules. The consumer group VKI also raised questions about the legality of the practice.
'Along new lines'?
In their defense of the company, representatives argued that Austrian Post had based the assumptions on opinion surveys and voting statistics in specific geographical areas, comparing the practice to exit polls during elections. They said the data could not reveal the voting behavior of individuals.
Privacy campaigners likened the scandal to the rampant violations of privacy by Facebook, the world's largest social network — especially after the wide-scale manipulation of user data during the 2016 US presidential campaign.
Austrian Post has said it plans to appeal the decision.
Curtain up! 10 reasons to visit Salzburg
Narrow lanes, spacious squares, Baroque splendor and a glorious panoramic mountain view: the city where Mozart was born offers a perfect backdrop for the Salzburg Festival, one of Europe's loveliest summer festivals.
Image: Tourismus Salzburg/G.Breitegger
Salzburg Festival centenary: A city becomes a stage
Every summer, Salzburg becomes a showcase for stars and celebrities. In 2020, as the Salzburg Festival turned 100. Around 200 concerts, opera and theater performances in just 43 days attract more than a quarter of a million visitors from more than 80 countries to Austria's fourth-largest city.
Image: Tourismus Salzburg/G.Breitegger
Spectacle, drama and great opera
The festival opens every year with "Everyman" (pictured) on Cathedral Square. The production of this play in 1917 also marked the birth of the festival and has become its trademark since then. In addition to Cathedral Square, the Festspielhaus and the Felsenreitschule (Riding School) are its best-known venues. In 2020, actor Tobias Moretti (left) gets a new female paramour.
Image: picture-alliance/B.Gindl
Where the musical genius Mozart was born
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first saw the light of day at Getreidegasse 9 (left in the picture) in 1756. Now there is a museum in the family’s original living quarters. Mozart fans can see a second Mozart residence just around the corner, where he lived as an adult while serving as concertmaster until he turned his back on the city and moved to Vienna.
Image: picture-alliance
Getreidegasse: the flagship of the Old Town
It's always worth looking up: The delicate, playful wrought-iron guild signs above the shops and pubs are an optical highlight in Getreidegasse. Salzburg's soul is in its cafés — with their tempting sweet specialties: Salzburger Nockerln, a kind of baked soufflé, and Mozartkugeln, small, round chocolates filled with nougat and marzipan.
Image: picture-alliance/R.Goldmann
A UNESCO heritage site with 1,000 landmarks
As in Mozart's time, the Old Town is shaped by its narrow lanes and spacious squares. One of the loveliest is Kapitelplatz, Chapter Square. High above it towers the symbol of the city, Hohensalzburg Fortress, one of the largest medieval fortified castles in Europe. Since 1996 the Old Town has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Image: Tourismus Salzburg/G.Breitegger
Building the Baroque in Salzburg
In the 16th century, Salzburg's prince-archbishops had the DomQuartier district with its Residenz palace and St. Peter's Abbey rebuilt in Italian Baroque style to display their prestige and power. Their aim was to create a “Rome of the North.” Salzburg Cathedral is now considered a major innovation: the first early Baroque church building north of the Alps.
Image: picture-alliance
Water games at Hellbrunn Castle
Hellbrunn Palace was one of the Salzburg prince-archbishops' prestige-building projects. This masterpiece of hydraulic engineering, with its water-powered automata and trick fountains, attracts 300,000 visitors a year and leaves none of them dry. The old trees that line Hellbrunner Allee, which runs through its park, provide a habitat for rare beetles, bats and woodpeckers.
Image: Schlossverwaltung Hellbrunn/Sulzer
Salzburg's most romantic weddings
Engaged couples queue up in front of Mirabell Palace on summer weekends for the privilege of saying “I do” in its Marble Hall. Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich had this pleasure palace built 1606 as a love token for his mistress, Salome Alt. The park provides a vista that reaches as far as Hohensalzburg Fortress, framed by an alpine panorama.
Image: Tourismus Salzburg/G.Breitegger
Contrast program in the "Museum der Moderne"
On the steep cliffs of the Mönchberg, one of Salzburg's three local mountains, the puristic architecture of this museum of modern art challenges the Baroque of the Old Town. The museum focuses on modern Austrian graphic and photographic works. Its terrace provides one of the loveliest views of Salzburg.
Image: Museum der Moderne Salzburg/M.Haader
Amusement at Salzburg Airport
Airplanes, racing cars and delicious food: Since 2003, Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz has been sharing his passions with the public. In Hangar-7, a unique glass and steel structure, Mozart operas and TV shows take place in the middle of his historical aircraft collection. The event location also houses a gourmet restaurant and bars — all with a view of the Alps.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Electric Love Festival on the race track
Salzburg isn't just for classical music lovers: There's plenty of partying and dance music at the Electric Love Festival, which has taken in early July since 2013. In 2022, the festival took place from July 6-9. On the Salzburgring race track, usually used for motorsport events, 120 DJs appear on five stages. It's considered Austria's most important electronic music festival.
