Unknown Company – €50,000 Fine (Germany, 2019)
General GDPR enforcement action
This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.
An unknown company in Germany was fined EUR 50,000 for not being transparent about who was handling personal data requests. This is important because companies must clearly communicate who is responsible for data processing to comply with GDPR.
What happened
The company hired an external firm to handle data access requests, but it was unclear to users who was responsible for their data.
Who was affected
Individuals who requested access to their personal data from the company.
What the authority found
The German authority ruled that the company failed to be transparent about data processing responsibilities, violating GDPR's transparency and information provision requirements.
Why this matters
This case emphasizes the need for clear communication about data processing roles. Companies should ensure transparency when outsourcing data-related tasks to avoid GDPR violations.
GDPR Articles Cited
The data controller had engaged an external company to carry out the duties of access to data according to Art. 15 GDPR. However, the engaged company conducted the correspondence with the data subjects under its own logo and in English language, so that it was not apparent to the data subjects who was responsible for the data processing. As a result, the data controller infringed the principle of transparency laid down in Art. 12 GDPR and did not sufficiently fulfil its obligations to provide information in accordance with Art. 15 GDPR. In addition, the data protection supervisory authority found that no written contract for data processing had been concluded between the data controller and the external company, thus constituting a further breach of Art. 28 (9) GDPR.
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for Unknown Company in DE
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
Fine Date
1 January 2019
Authority
Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz
Fine Amount
€50,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-271
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Unknown Company - Germany (2019). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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