On February 3, 2021, the Conference of the Supervisory Authorities (“SAs”) of Germany (known as the Datenschutzkonferenz or “DSK”) published minutes from its meetings held in November 2020 (available here, in German). The minutes include discussions about how the German SAs plan to enforce the recent Schrems II ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”). Notably, the Berlin SA (coordinator of the DSK’s Schrems II task force) sought consensus to ensure a joint enforcement approach.
Continue Reading German Supervisory Authorities Plan to Circulate Questionnaires on Personal Data Transfers in Wake of Schrems II Decision
EDPB Publishes Draft Guidelines on Data Breach Notification Examples
On January 18, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published its draft Guidelines 01/2021 on Examples regarding Data Breach Notification (“Guidelines”) (available here). The Guidelines aim to assist data controllers in responding to and assessing the risk of personal data breaches, providing “practice-oriented, case-based guidance” which draws from the experiences of European supervisory authorities since the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR” or “Regulation”) went into effect in 2018.
The Guidelines are currently open for public consultation until March 2, 2021. In this blog post, we summarize a few key takeaways from the Guidelines.Continue Reading EDPB Publishes Draft Guidelines on Data Breach Notification Examples
New Guidelines for Companies from German Supervisory Authority (DPA-BW) following Schrems II
On September 7, 2020, the German data protection supervisory authority for Baden-Wuerttemberg (“DPA-BW”) released new guidelines following the Schrems II judgment on how companies should transfer data to third countries. For a more in-depth summary of the CJEU’s Schrems II decision, please see our previous blog post here and our audiocast episode here.
Continue Reading New Guidelines for Companies from German Supervisory Authority (DPA-BW) following Schrems II
H&M Receives Record-Breaking Fine for Employee Surveillance in Violation of the GDPR
On October 1, 2020, the Hamburg Data Protection Authority (“Hamburg DPA”) fined H&M, the Swedish clothing company, over €35 million for illegally surveilling employees at its service center in Nuremberg. This fine is the largest financial penalty issued by a German DPA to date for a violation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), and the second highest in Europe issued by any DPA (although other DPAs have announced their intention to issue other larger fines).
Continue Reading H&M Receives Record-Breaking Fine for Employee Surveillance in Violation of the GDPR
German Federal Supreme Court Issued Cookie Decision in Planet 49 Case
On May 28, 2020, the German Federal Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Planet 49 case regarding the consent requirements for the use of cookies. The decision follows the Court of Justice of the European Union’s preliminary ruling of September 10, 2019. The decision has not yet been published, but the court has issued a press release.
The court decided that the use of pre-ticked boxes was not a valid form of obtaining consent for cookies before May 24, 2018 and remains an invalid way of obtaining consent under the GDPR. The court’s decision applies the German provisions on cookies in the German Telemedia Act which it interprets in light of the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (“ePrivacy Directive”).
Continue Reading German Federal Supreme Court Issued Cookie Decision in Planet 49 Case
Real Estate Company Fined € 14.5 Million in Germany for Violating GDPR Principle of Privacy By Design
On October 30, 2019, the supervisory authority (“SA”) of Berlin issued a € 14.5 million fine against the real estate company Deutsche Wohnen SE for storing personal data of tenants without a legal basis (Art. 6 GDPR) and for not implementing the GDPR principle of privacy by design (Art. 5
Continue Reading Real Estate Company Fined € 14.5 Million in Germany for Violating GDPR Principle of Privacy By Design
German Bundestag approves 2nd German Data Protection Adaptation Act (“2nd DSAnpUG”): Summary of significant changes for German data protection laws.
On 28 June 2019, the German Bundestag passed the 2nd DSAnpUG which will amongst other things further adapt the German Federal Data Protection Act („BDSG“), the German Federal Registration Act (“BMG”), the German Act on the Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (“BSI-Act”) and the Act on the Establishment
Continue Reading German Bundestag approves 2nd German Data Protection Adaptation Act (“2nd DSAnpUG”): Summary of significant changes for German data protection laws.
German DSK publishes guidance on the applicability of the German Telemedia Act to telemedia services
On April 5, 2019, the association of German Supervisory Authorities for data protection (‘Datenschutzkonferenz’ or ‘DSK’) published a guideline regarding the applicability of the German Telemedia Act (‘TMG’) to telemedia services – including, for example, the use of website cookies for targeted advertising post-GDPR.
Continue Reading German DSK publishes guidance on the applicability of the German Telemedia Act to telemedia services