Chapter 1 - Legal basis for processing personal data
Sub-chapter 1 - Processing of special categories of personal data and processing for other purposes
Section 22 - Processing of special categories of personal dataSection 23 - Processing for other purposes by public bodiesSection 24 - Processing for other purposes by private bodiesSection 25 - Transfer of data by public bodies
Sub-chapter 2 - Special processing situations
Section 26 - Data processing for employment-related purposesSection 27 - Data processing for purposes of scientific or historical research and for statistical purposesSection 28 - Data processing for archiving purposes in the public interestSection 29 - Rights of the data subject and powers of the supervisory authorities in the case of secrecy obligationsSection 30 - Consumer loansSection 31 - Protection of commercial transactions in the case of scoring and credit reports
Chapter 2 - Rights of the data subject
Section 32 - Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subjectSection 33 - Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subjectSection 34 - Right of access by the data subjectSection 35 - Right to erasureSection 36 - Right to objectSection 37 - Automated individual decision-making, including profiling
Chapter 3 - Obligations of controllers and processors
Section 38 - Data protection officers of private bodiesSection 39 - Accreditation
Chapter 4 - Supervisory authorities for data processing by private bodies
Section 40 - Supervisory authorities of the Länder
Chapter 5 - Penalties
Section 41 - Application of provisions concerning criminal proceedings and proceedings to impose administrative finesSection 42 - Penal provisionsSection 43 - Provisions on administrative fines
Chapter 6 - Legal remedies
Section 44 - Proceedings against a controller or processor

Chapter 1 - Scope, definitions and general principles for processing personal data
Section 45 - ScopeSection 46 - DefinitionsSection 47 - General principles for processing personal data
Chapter 2 - Legal basis for processing personal data
Section 48 - Processing of special categories of personal dataSection 49 - Processing for other purposesSection 50 - Processing for archiving, scientific and statistical purposesSection 51 - ConsentSection 52 - Processing on instructions from the controllerSection 53 - ConfidentialitySection 54 - Automated individual decision
Chapter 3 - Rights of the data subject
Section 55 - General information on data processingSection 56 - Notification of data subjectsSection 57 - Right of accessSection 58 - Right to rectification and erasure and to restriction of processingSection 59 - Modalities for exercising the rights of the data subjectSection 60 - Right to lodge a complaint with the Federal CommissionerSection 61 - Legal remedies against decisions of the Federal Commissioner or if he or she fails to take action
Chapter 4 - Obligations of controllers and processors
Section 62 - Processing carried out on behalf of a controllerSection 63 - Joint controllersSection 64 - Requirements for the security of data processingSection 65 - Notifying the Federal Commissioner of a personal data breachSection 66 - Notifying data subjects affected by a personal data breachSection 67 - Conducting a data protection impact assessmentSection 68 - Cooperation with the Federal CommissionerSection 69 - Prior consultation of the Federal CommissionerSection 70 - Records of processing activitiesSection 71 - Data protection by design and by defaultSection 72 - Distinction between different categories of data subjectsSection 73 - Distinction between facts and personal assessmentsSection 74 - Procedures for data transfersSection 75 - Rectification and erasure of personal data and restriction of processingSection 76 - LoggingSection 77 - Confidential reporting of violations
Chapter 5 - Transfers of data to third countries and to international organisations
Section 78 - General requirementsSection 79 - Data transfers with appropriate safeguardsSection 80 - Data transfers without appropriate safeguardsSection 81 - Other data transfers to recipients in third countries
Chapter 6 - Cooperation among supervisory authorities
Section 82 - Mutual assistance
Chapter 7 - Liability and penalties
Section 83 - CompensationSection 84 - Penal provisions

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Section 1
1. the controller or processor processes personal data in Germany,
Section 1
2. personal data are processed in the context of the activities of an establishment of the controller or processor in Germany, or if,
Section 1
3. although the controller or processor has no establishment in a Member State of the European Union or another contracting state of the European Economic Area, it does fall within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119 of 4 May 2016, p. 1; L 314 of 22 November 2016, p. 72).
Section 1
If this Act does not apply in accordance with the second sentence, only Sections 8 to 21 and 39 to 44 shall apply to the controller or processor.
Section 7
(2) The data protection officer may perform other tasks and duties. The controller or processor shall ensure that any such tasks and duties do not result in a conflict of interests.
Section 9
(1) The Federal Commissioner shall be competent to supervise the public bodies of the Federation, also if they take part in competition as enterprises governed by public law. The provisions of this chapter shall also apply to processors if they are private bodies in which the Federation holds the absolute majority of shares or controls the absolute majority of votes and they process data on behalf of a public body of the Federation
Section 14
4. to promote the awareness of controllers and processors of their obligations under this Act and other data protection legislation, including legislation adopted to implement Directive (EU) 2016/680;
Section 19
(1) The lead supervisory authority of a Land in the one-stop-shop mechanism pursuant to Chapter VII of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall be the supervisory authority of the Land in which the controller or processor has its main establishment, as referred to in Article 4 no. 16 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or its single establishment in the European Union, as referred to in Article 56 (1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Article 56 (1) in conjunction with Article 4 no. 16 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall apply accordingly within the Federal Commissioner’s area of responsibility. If there is no agreement on determining the lead supervisory authority, the procedure described in Section 18 (2) shall be applied accordingly.
Section 19
(2) The supervisory authority with which a data subject has lodged a complaint shall forward the complaint to the lead supervisory authority referred to in subsection 1; in the absence of such a lead supervisory authority, the complaint shall be forwarded to the supervisory authority of a Land in which the controller or processor has an establishment. If a complaint is lodged with a supervisory authority which is not responsible for the matter, this authority shall forward the complaint to the supervisory authority where the applicant resides, if it is not possible to forward the complaint as referred to in the first sentence. The receiving supervisory authority shall be regarded as the supervisory authority according to Chapter VII of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 with whom the complaint was lodged, and shall fulfil the obligations referred to in Article 60 (7) to (9) and Article 65 (6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
Section 22
5. restrictions on access to personal data within the controller and by processors;
Section 29
(3) The supervisory authorities shall not have the investigative powers according to Article 58 (1) (e) and (f) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 with regard to the persons listed in Section 203 (1), (2a) and (3) of the Criminal Code or their processors as far as exercising these powers would violate these persons’ obligations to secrecy. If in the context of an investigation a supervisory authority becomes aware of data subject to an obligation of secrecy as referred to in the first sentence, the obligation of secrecy shall also apply to the supervisory authority.
Section 38
(1) In addition to Article 37 (1) (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the controller and processor shall designate a data protection officer if they constantly employ as a rule at least ten persons dealing with the automated processing of personal data. If the controller or processor undertake processing subject to a data protection impact assessment pursuant to Article 35 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, or if they commercially process personal data for the purpose of transfer, of anonymized transfer or for purposes of market or opinion research, they shall designate a data protection officer regardless of the number of persons employed in processing.
Section 40
(2) If the controller or processor has more than one establishment in Germany, Article 4 no. 16 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall apply accordingly in determining which supervisory authority is competent. If more than one authority considers itself competent or not competent, or when the competence is unclear for other reasons, the supervisory authorities shall make a joint decision in accordance with Section 18 (2). Section 3 (3) and
Section 44
(1) Proceedings against a controller or a processor for a violation of data protection law within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or the rights of the data subject contained therein may be brought by a data subject before the court in the place where the controller or processor has an establishment. Proceedings pursuant to the first sentence may also be brought before the court in the place where the data subject has his or her habitual residence.
Section 44
(3) If the controller or processor has designated a representative pursuant to Article 27 (1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, this representative shall also be an authorized recipient in civil law proceedings pursuant to subsection 1. Section 184 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall remain unaffected.
Section 45
The provisions of this Part shall apply to the processing of personal data by public bodies competent for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal or administrative offences or the execution of criminal or administrative penalties, as far as they process data for the purpose of carrying out these tasks. The public bodies shall be regarded in that case as controllers. The prevention of criminal offences as referred to in the first sentence shall include protection against and prevention of threats to public security. The first and second sentences shall also apply to those public bodies responsible for executing penalties, measures as referred to in Section 11 (1) no. 8 of the Criminal Code, educational or disciplinary measures as referred to in the Juvenile Court Act or fines. As far as this Part contains provisions for processors, it shall also apply to them.
Section 46
8. ‘processor’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;
Section 52
Any person acting under the authority of the controller or of the processor who has access to personal data shall not process those data except on instructions from the controller, unless required to do so by law.
Section 62
(2) A controller may use only processors providing sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures in such a manner that the processing will meet the requirements of the law and ensure the protection of the rights of the data subjects.
Section 62
(3) Processors shall not engage other processors without prior written authorisation by the controller. If the controller has given the processor general authorisation to engage other processors, the processor shall inform the controller of any intended changes concerning the addition or replacement of other processors. In this case, the controller may object to such changes.
Section 62
(4) Where a processor engages another processor, the former shall impose on the latter the same data protection obligations as set out in the contract between the controller and the processor as referred to in subsection 5 if these obligations are not already binding for the latter processor because of other legislation. Where that other processor fails to fulfil these obligations, the initial processor shall remain fully liable to the controller for the performance of that other processor's obligations.
Section 62
(5) Processing by a processor shall be governed by a contract or other legal instrument that is binding on the processor with regard to the controller and that sets out the subject matter and duration of the processing, the nature and purpose of the processing, the type of personal data and categories of data subjects and the obligations and rights of the controller. That contract or other legal instrument shall stipulate, in particular, that the processor
Section 62
1. acts only on instructions from the controller; if the processor believes that an instruction is unlawful, the processor shall inform the controller without delay;
Section 62
7. complies with the conditions referred to in subsections 3 and 4 for engaging another processor;
Section 62
9. assists the controller in ensuring compliance with the obligations pursuant to Sections 64 to 67 and 69 taking into account the nature of processing and the information available to the processor.
Section 62
(7) A processor that determines, in violation of this provision, the purposes and means of processing, shall be considered a controller in respect of that processing.
Section 64
(1) The controller and the processor, taking into account the state of the art, the costs of implementation and the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing as well as the risk of varying likelihood and severity for the legally protected interests of natural persons, shall implement the necessary technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk when processing personal data, in particular as regards the processing of special categories of personal data. In doing so, the controller shall take into account the relevant Technical Guidelines and recommendations from the Federal Office for Information Security.
Section 64
(3) In respect of automated processing, the controller and processor, following an evaluation of the risks, shall implement measures designed to
Section 65
(2) A processor shall notify the controller of a personal data breach without delay.
Section 69
2. where applicable, information on the respective responsibilities of the controller, joint controllers and processors involved in the processing;
Section 69
(3) If the Federal Commissioner believes that the planned processing would violate the law, in particular because the controller has not sufficiently identified the risk or has not taken sufficient measures to mitigate the risk, he or she may provide, within a period of up to six weeks of receipt of the request for consultation, written advice to the controller and, where applicable, to the processor, as to which additional measures should be taken. The Federal Commissioner may extend this period by a month, if the planned processing is especially complex. In this case, the Federal Commissioner shall inform the controller and, where applicable, the processor of the extension within one month of receipt of the request for consultation.
Section 70
(2) The processor shall maintain a record of all categories of processing activities carried out on behalf of a controller, containing
Section 70
1. the name and contact details of the processor, of each controller on behalf of which the processor is acting and, where applicable, the data protection officer;
Section 70
(4) Controllers and processors shall make these records available to the Federal Commissioner on request.
Section 76
(1) Controllers and processors shall provide for logs to be kept for at least the following processing operations in automated processing systems:
Section 76
(5) The controller and the processor shall make the logs available to the Federal Commissioner on request.