Chapter 1 - Scope and definitions
Section 1 - Scope of the ActSection 2 - DefinitionsChapter 2 - Legal basis for processing personal data
Section 3 - Processing of personal data by public bodiesSection 4 - Video surveillance of publicly accessible spacesChapter 3 - Data protection officers of public bodies
Section 5 - DesignationSection 6 - PositionSection 7 - TasksChapter 4 - Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information
Section 8 - EstablishmentSection 9 - CompetenceSection 10 - IndependenceSection 11 - Appointment and term of officeSection 12 - Official relationshipSection 13 - Rights and obligationsSection 14 - TasksSection 15 - Activity reportsSection 16 - PowersChapter 5 - Representation on the European Data Protection Board, single contact point, cooperation among the federal supervisory authorities and those of the Länder concerning European Union matters
Section 17 - Representation on the European Data Protection Board, single contact pointSection 18 - Procedures for cooperation among the federal and Länder supervisory authoritiesSection 19 - ResponsibilitiesChapter 6 - Legal remedies
Section 20 - Judicial remedySection 21 - Application of the supervisory authority for a court decision if it believes that an adequacy decision by the European Commission violates the lawChapter 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 bodiesSub-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 reportsChapter 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 profilingChapter 3 - Obligations of controllers and processors
Section 38 - Data protection officers of private bodiesSection 39 - AccreditationChapter 4 - Supervisory authorities for data processing by private bodies
Section 40 - Supervisory authorities of the LänderChapter 5 - Penalties
Section 41 - Application of provisions concerning criminal proceedings and proceedings to impose administrative finesSection 42 - Penal provisionsSection 43 - Provisions on administrative finesChapter 6 - Legal remedies
Section 44 - Proceedings against a controller or processorChapter 1 - Scope, definitions and general principles for processing personal data
Section 45 - ScopeSection 46 - DefinitionsSection 47 - General principles for processing personal dataChapter 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 decisionChapter 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 actionChapter 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 violationsChapter 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 countriesChapter 6 - Cooperation among supervisory authorities
Section 82 - Mutual assistanceChapter 7 - Liability and penalties
Section 83 - CompensationSection 84 - Penal provisions(5) Data subjects may contact the data protection officer with regard to all issues related to processing of their personal data and to the exercise of their rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, this Act and other data protection legislation. The data protection officer shall be bound by secrecy concerning the identity of data subjects and concerning circumstances enabling data subjects to be identified, unless they are released from this obligation by the data subject.
(3) The senior civil servant shall exercise the rights of the Federal Commissioner if the latter is unable to perform his or her duties or if his or her term of office has expired and he or she is no longer obligated to continue his or her work. Section 10 (1) shall apply accordingly.
2. would violate fundamental rights.
2. to promote public awareness and understanding of the risks, rules, safeguards and rights in relation to the processing of personal data, paying special attention to measures specifically for children;
3. to advise the German Bundestag, the Bundesrat, the Federal Government, and other institutions and bodies on legislative and administrative measures relating to the protection of natural persons’ rights and freedoms with regard to the processing of personal data;
5. upon request, to provide information to any data subject concerning the exercise of their rights under this Act and other data protection legislation, including legislation adopted to implement Directive (EU) 2016/680, and if appropriate, to cooperate with the supervisory authorities in other Member States to that end;
(1) Recourse to the administrative courts shall be provided for disputes between natural or legal persons and a supervisory authority of the Federation or a Land concerning rights according to Article 78 (1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Section 61. The first sentence shall not apply to administrative fine proceedings.
a) processing is necessary to exercise the rights derived from the right of social security and social protection and to meet the related obligations;
(2) In the cases of subsection 1, appropriate and specific measures shall be taken to safeguard the interests of the data subject. Taking into account the state of the art, the cost of implementation and the nature, scope, context and purposes of processing as well as the risks of varying likelihood and severity for rights and freedoms of natural persons posed by the processing, these measures may include in particular the following:
5. processing is necessary to prevent serious harm to the rights of another person; or
(1) Personal data of employees may be processed for employment-related purposes where necessary for hiring decisions or, after hiring, for carrying out or terminating the employment contract or to exercise or satisfy rights and obligations of employees’ representation laid down by law or by collective agreements or other agreements between the employer and staff council. Employees’ personal data may be processed to detect crimes only if there is a documented reason to believe the data subject has committed a crime while employed, the processing of such data is necessary to investigate the crime and is not outweighed by the data subject’s legitimate interest in not processing the data, and in particular the type and extent are not disproportionate to the reason.
(3) By derogation from Article 9 (1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the processing of special categories of personal data as referred to in Article 9 (1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 for employment-related purposes shall be permitted if it is necessary to exercise rights or comply with legal obligations derived from labour law, social security and social protection law, and there is no reason to believe that the data subject has an overriding legitimate interest in not processing the data. Subsection 2 shall also apply to consent to the processing of special categories of personal data; consent must explicitly refer to these data. Section 22 (2) shall apply accordingly.
(6) The rights of participation of staff councils shall remain unaffected.
(2) The rights of data subjects provided in Articles 15, 16, 18 and 21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall be limited to the extent that these rights are likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the research or statistical purposes, and such limits are necessary for the fulfilment of the research or statistical purposes. Further, the right of access according to Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall not apply if the data are necessary for purposes of scientific research and the provision of information would involve disproportionate effort.
(4) The rights provided in Article 18 (1) (a), (b) and (d) and in Articles 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall not apply as far as these rights are likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the archiving purposes in the public interest, and the exceptions are necessary to fulfil those purposes.
2. the decision is based on the application of binding rules of remuneration for therapeutic treatment and the controller takes suitable measures, in the event that the request is not granted in full, to safeguard the data subject's legitimate interests, at least the right to obtain human intervention on the part of the controller, to express his or her point of view and to contest the decision; the controller shall inform the data subject of these rights no later than the notification indicating that the data subject’s request will not be granted in full.
(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.
2. the rights of data subjects with regard to the processing of their personal data to access, rectification, erasure and restriction of processing,
(1) Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, every data subject shall have the right to lodge a complaint with the Federal Commissioner, if the data subject believes that the processing by public bodies of personal data relating to him or her for the purposes listed in Section 45 infringes his or her rights. This shall not apply to the processing of personal data by courts, if they have processed these data in the context of their judicial activities. The Federal Commissioner shall inform the data subject of the progress and the outcome of the complaint and of the possibility of a judicial remedy pursuant to Section 61.
(1) Where personal data are processed by other persons or bodies on behalf of a controller, the controller shall ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act and other data protection provisions. The data subject shall assert his or her rights to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and the right to receive compensation against the controller.
(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.
(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
3. assists the controller by any appropriate means to ensure compliance with the provisions on the data subject's rights;
Where two or more controllers jointly determine the purposes and means of processing, they shall be considered joint controllers. Joint controllers shall determine their respective tasks and responsibilities under data protection law in a transparent manner in an agreement, unless these tasks and responsibilities are already determined by law. In particular, this agreement must indicate which of them must meet which information obligations, and how and with respect to whom data subjects may exercise their rights. Such an agreement shall not prevent data subjects from asserting their rights against each of the joint controllers.
(4) The impact assessment shall take the rights of the data subjects affected by the processing into account and shall contain at least the following:
(1) The controller, both at the time the means of processing are determined and at the time of the processing itself, shall take appropriate measures to implement data protection principles, such as data minimization, in an effective manner, to ensure compliance with legal requirements and to protect the rights of data subjects. In doing so, the controller shall take into account the state of the art, the cost of implementation and the nature, scope, context and purposes of processing, as well as the risks of varying likelihood and severity for the legally protected interests of the data subject posed by the processing. In particular, personal data shall be processed, and processing systems shall be selected and designed in accordance with the aim of processing as few personal data as possible. Personal data shall be rendered anonymous or pseudonymized as early as possible, as far as possible in accordance with the purpose of processing.
(2) No transfer of personal data shall be permitted, despite an adequacy decision as referred to in subsection 1 no. 2 and the public interest in the data transfer to be taken into account, if in the individual case it cannot be ensured that the data will be handled appropriately in terms of data protection law and in accordance with fundamental human rights in the area of responsibility of the recipient, or if a transfer would conflict with other overriding legitimate interests of a data subject. The controller shall base its assessment on whether the recipient in the individual case guarantees appropriate protection of the transferred data.
(2) The controller shall not transfer data pursuant to subsection 1 if the fundamental rights of the data subject override the public interest in the transfer.
1. in the specific case no fundamental rights of the data subject override the public interest in the transfer;