I was winging over the fact that the CJEU ruled that victims of GDPR offenses cannot claim their legal costs (particularly the lawyer’s fees) when they win a case, which kills lawsuits as a viable option in most GDPR situations. At the same time, data protection authorities are deadbeats – not enforcing most cases. So the GDPR is mostly just symbolic for most of us.

A brit said they use the court and it only costs them £30 to file a paper with no need for a lawyer. I’m surprised because that’s even cheaper than typical small claims courts in the US. And the other thing is, small claims courts (in the US) only handle money disputes. A US small claims court can only order someone to pay for damages. If a CCPA case were brought to a small claims court in California, it would be unable to order someone to take an action such as to erase info from a DB.

So I’m curious about this UK option. Do UK small claims courts have the power to order a data controller to erase data? Or would it be a higher court?

To be clear, the brit said they do not get their £30 back (unlike what would happen in a US small claims court). So Brits are still at a loss, but perhaps still worthwhile in some cases.