site.btaConstitutional Court Declares Unconstitutional Provisions on Traffic Data Use by Competition Protection Commission

The Constitutional Court finds unconstitutional provisions of the Competition Protection Act and the Electronic Communications Act regarding the use of traffic data by the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC), the Court said on Tuesday. The case was initiated at the President's request in November 2025.

All 12 constitutional judges participated in the hearing. The decision was adopted unanimously and was signed with a concurring opinion by Judge Sonya Yankulova.

The provisions in question stipulate that the procedure for accessing traffic data may be used for the purposes of investigating and punishing violations under Article 15 of the Competition Protection Act. According to the Constitutional Court, the National Assembly did not limit the use of traffic data solely to the prosecution of grave crimes (as required by Article 34(2) of the Constitution), but has unreasonably expanded this purpose by exceeding the permissible legitimate purposes for the retention of and access to traffic data. Since the severity of the interference in this case is significant, given the nature, scope, and potential uses of traffic data, it is not constitutionally permissible to authorize such access for the purpose of investigating and punishing administrative violations.

According to the Constitutional Court, the limited practical effect of the measure introduced into the legislation does not justify either its broad scope or the high intensity of the infringement of fundamental rights to which it leads, given the serious encroachment on private life and the freedom and confidentiality of correspondence. 

On October 23, 2025, Parliament adopted conclusively amendments to the Competition Protection Act related to the CPC's powers. The bill also provided for an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act, creating the possibility for the CPC to obtain, when necessary, data from enterprises providing public electronic communications networks and/or services for the purposes of proceedings under the Competition Protection Act. Between the first and second readings, the provision was revised to specify that access is limited to traffic data associated with the IP address.