CJEU: individuals are entitled to a meaningful explanation of automated decisions (C-203/22)

In Case C-203/22 (CK v Magistrat der Stadt Wien; the scoring was performed by Dun & Bradstreet Austria), the Court of Justice held on 27 February 2025 that the GDPR right of access to 'meaningful information about the logic involved' in automated decision-making requires an intelligible explanation of the procedure and principles actually applied to the person's data — handing over a complex formula or algorithm is not enough. Trade-secret protection does not override the right; contested material may have to be put before a court or authority to balance the interests.

This ruling sets the transparency bar for every automated decision with legal or similarly significant effect — credit scoring, screening, eligibility — and it binds today, independent of the AI Act's timeline.

Organisations using automated decision-making or profiling with significant effects on individuals, and the vendors that supply scores or decisions into those processes.

Test whether you can produce a plain-language explanation of each automated decision process on request, and review any policy of refusing access on trade-secret grounds against this judgment.