Deutsche Wohnen SE – Fine (Germany, 2019)

Fine

Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz

30 October 2019

Germany

final

Fine

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.

Germany's data protection commissioner imposed fines on Deutsche Wohnen for improperly storing tenant data. This ruling stresses the importance of protecting personal information from unnecessary storage.

What happened

Deutsche Wohnen stored personal data of tenants inappropriately.

Who was affected

Tenants whose personal information was stored without proper justification.

What the authority found

The commissioner ruled that Deutsche Wohnen violated privacy principles by failing to store data appropriately.

Why this matters

This case highlights the need for companies to follow privacy by design principles. It encourages businesses to review their data storage practices to avoid similar issues.

GDPR Articles Cited

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Art. 5(GDPR)

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Art. 5(GDPR)

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Germany enforcement Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz actions All Deutsche Wohnen SE actions

Full Legal Summary

Detailed

In addition to sanctioning violations of privacy by design principles (Art. 5 GDPR, Art. 25 GDPR - see separate entry), the Berlin data protection commissioner imposed further fines of between 6,000 and 17,000 euros on the company for the inadmissible storage of personal data of tenants in 15 specific individual cases.

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Related Enforcement Actions (4)

Other enforcement actions involving Deutsche Wohnen SE in DE

Fine

Oct 2019· DPA BlnBDI

After having conducted investigations in June 2017, the DPA found that the controller was structurally not deleting data in it's archive. The DPA requ...

€14.5M

Current

Oct 2019

Fine

Court Ruling

Feb 2021· DPA BlnBDI

The DPA of Berlin fined Deutsche Wohnen SE for violating Article 5(1)(c) and Article 5(1)(e) GDPR, because the DPA found that the company did not dele...

Fine

Feb 2021· Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz

Originally, a fine in the amount of EUR 14.500.000 was issued against Deutsche Wohnen SE for using an archiving system for the storage of personal dat...

Fine

Feb 2021· Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz

Non-compliance with general data processing principles

€900K