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Europe’s top court said the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other religious groups need to follow EU data privacy laws. Jehovah’s Witnesses are seen in Tuuri, Finland, 15 April 2017. Photo credit: Tiia Monto via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) 

The case started when the Finnish Data Protection Supervisor told the Finnish Jehovah’s Witnesses religious community to stop collecting personal details about their proselytising visits.

A Finnish court then asked the European Court of Justice, which is based in Kirchberg, if religious groups where subject to EU data protection laws.

On Tuesday, the ECJ said regular EU rules applied because “the preaching extends beyond the private sphere of a member of a religious community who is a preacher.”

In other words, the data concerns people who are not members of the church, so it is not considered “an expression of the faith of those preachers” and so the information needs be handled in the same way that any organisation would.

According to the Reuters news agency:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses differ from mainstream Christianity in a number of their beliefs, including rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity and opposing blood transfusions and military conscription.”

The case is C-25/17 (Tietosuojavaltuutettu v Jehovan todistajat--uskonnollinen yhdyskunta). The matter will now return to the Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court for final adjudication.