The Rugby Football Union (Respondent) v Consolidated Information Services Limited (Formerly Viagogo Limited) (In Liquidation) (Appellant)

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) sought an order for disclosure of personal data in order to identify persons who had sold or bought tickets for rugby internationals at inflated prices in breach of the RFU's terms and conditions. Consolidated Information Services Limited (CIS), formerly known as Viagogo Limited, appealed against the grant of the order. CIS argued that the order was disproportionate because it would involve a breach of article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which guarantees the protection of personal data. The appeal was dismissed. In the circumstances of this case, the RFU's legitimate objective in seeking the disclosure of personal data, namely to protect its policy of maintaining the price of tickets at a reasonable level, was sufficient to outweigh the interest of the individuals concerned in having their personal data protected from disclosure. The court should not confine its consideration of the proportionality of the order to the particular circumstances of the individual transaction. It should also consider the broader context of the RFU's desire to prevent the future sale of tickets at inflated prices. The RFU's alternative argument that the persons whose personal data were sought had given their consent to the disclosure of that information was rejected. Consent was given only to the disclosure of personal data when it was established that this was a proportionate response to a request for its release. A court order requiring its disclosure could not be made without the necessary underpinning of proportionality.