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Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel - ITMediaLaw

Bonn Regional Court confirms fine for inadequate customer verification

7. November 2022
in Data protection Law
Reading Time: 2 mins read
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privacy policy 3344455 1280
Key Facts
  • The 9th Chamber of the Regional Court of Bonn has imposed a fine on a telecommunications service provider.
  • The original fine of 9.55 million euros was reduced to 900,000 euros.
  • The reason for this was a criminal complaint of stalking by a former partner.
  • The Chamber found that the GDPR had been violated without a manager being identified.
  • Insufficient authentication in the call center allowed unlawful access to a customer's contact details.
  • The data subject was legally mistaken about the level of data protection and the illusion of security.
  • The chamber ruled that the data breach was to be classified as minor and did not cause mass data breaches.

The Ninth Chamber for Administrative Fines of the Bonn Regional Court today ruled that the fine imposed by the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information on a telecommunications service provider for a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation was justified on the merits but unreasonably high. The Board therefore reduced the fine from the original €9.55 million to €900,000.

The reason for the fine proceedings was a criminal complaint of stalking by a customer of the telecommunications service provider. His former partner had requested the new telephone number of her ex-partner via the call center of the telecommunications service provider by posing as his wife.

For legitimation, it only had to provide the customer’s name and date of birth. She had then used the new phone number to make harassing contacts.

In November 2019, the BfDI therefore imposed a fine of EUR 9.55 million on the telecommunications service provider for grossly negligent violation of Art. 32 para. 1 GDPR.

The BfDI explained that simply requesting the name and date of birth to authenticate telephone callers did not provide sufficient protection for the data in the call center.

The telecommunications service provider appealed against this decision, which is why the case was heard on five main days before the 9th Board of Administrative Appeals for Fines.

The Board ruled that the imposition of a fine on a company does not depend on a finding of a specific violation by a management person of the company. In the Board’s view, the applicable European law, unlike the German law on administrative offenses, does not impose a corresponding requirement.

In the case in point, there was a data protection violation because the telecommunications service provider had not protected the data of its customers in the course of communication via the so-called call centers by means of a sufficiently secure authentication procedure. In this way, it was possible for unauthorized callers to obtain further customer data, such as the current telephone number, only with the help of the full name and date of birth, by cleverly asking and pretending to be authorized. However, sensitive data such as itemized bills, traffic data or account details could not have been retrieved in this way.

The person concerned had been in a legal error with regard to the adequacy of the level of protection. In the absence of binding specifications for the authentication process in call centers, this legal error was understandable but avoidable.

In its decision, the Board reduced the amount of the fine to 900,000 euros. The fault of the telecommunications service provider was minor. With regard to the authentication practice practiced over many years, which had not been objected to until the fine was imposed, there had been a lack of the necessary awareness of the problem. In addition, it should be taken into account that – even in the opinion of the BfDI – this is only a minor data protection violation. This could not have led to the mass release of data to unauthorized persons.

Marian Härtel
Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.

Tags: AuthenticationInformationKIPrivacyRegulation

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  • Informationen
    • Ideal partner
    • About lawyer Marian Härtel
    • Quick and flexible access
    • Principles as a lawyer
    • Why a lawyer and business consultant?
    • Focus areas of attorney Marian Härtel
      • Focus on start-ups
      • Investment advice
      • Corporate law
      • Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain and Games
      • AI and SaaS
      • Streamers and influencers
      • Games and esports law
      • IT/IP Law
      • Law firm for GMBH,UG, GbR
      • Law firm for IT/IP and media law
    • The everyday life of an IT lawyer
    • How can I help clients?
    • Testimonials
    • Team: Saskia Härtel – WHO AM I?
    • Agile and lean law firm
    • Price overview
    • Various information
      • Terms
      • Privacy policy
      • Imprint
  • Services
    • Support and advice of agencies
    • Contract review and preparation
    • Games law consulting
    • Consulting for influencers and streamers
    • Advice in e-commerce
    • DLT and Blockchain consulting
    • Legal advice in corporate law: from incorporation to structuring
    • Legal compliance and expert opinions
    • Outsourcing – for companies or law firms
    • Booking as speaker
  • News
    • Gloss / Opinion
    • Law on the Internet
    • Online retail
    • Law and computer games
    • Law and Esport
    • Blockchain and web law
    • Data protection Law
    • Copyright
    • Labour law
    • Competition law
    • Corporate
    • EU law
    • Law on the protection of minors
    • Tax
    • Other
    • Internally
  • Podcast
    • ITMediaLaw Podcast
  • Knowledge base
    • Laws
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    • Contract types
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    • Legal means
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