Germany

In two recent landmark decisions issued on November 6, 2019, the German Constitutional Court (“BVerfG”) presented its unique perspective on the “right to be forgotten” and announced that it will assume a greater role in safeguarding German residents’ fundamental rights from now on.
Continue Reading German Constitutional Court Reshapes “Right to be Forgotten” and Expands Its Oversight of Human Rights Violations

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

On October 16, 2019, the body of German Supervisory Authorities known as the Datenschutzkonferenz (“DSK”) released a document proposing a model for calculating fines under the GDPR.  The DSK indicated that this model is subject to change and will be superseded by any method put forward in guidance issued by…
Continue Reading New Calculation Model for Data Protection Fines in Germany

On September 10, 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“) issued its decision in the Planet 49 case.  The case centers on the consent requirements for the use of cookies.

Planet49 GmbH offered an online lottery service for which interested users had to register.  The registration form…
Continue Reading CJEU Issues Decision on Consent for Cookies and Intersection with the GDPR

Update, September 19, 2019: Further to the reports on its scheme for calculating fines, which prompted requests on the supervisory to publish it, the Datenschutzkonferenz has clarified that fines in individual cases are calculated on the basis of Art. 83(2) GDPR, and that the model is only used on…
Continue Reading New Calculation Model for Data Protection Fines in Germany

On June 27, 2019, the High Court of Frankfurt decided that a consent for data processing tied to a consent for receiving advertising can be considered as freely given under the GDPR.

The case concerned an electricity company that relied on consent obtained by another company to advertise its products…
Continue Reading German court decides that GDPR consent can be tied to receiving advertising

Guidance on how to identify data subjects

On July 1, 2019, the Bavarian Supervisory Authority for the public sector (“SA”) published guidance on how to verify the identity of data subjects exercising their data protection rights under the GDPR. The guidance is directed at public bodies, but is also helpful…
Continue Reading German Supervisory Authorities Issue Guidance on Data Subject Rights

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.

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