Vattenfall Europe Sales GmbH – €900,000 Fine (Germany, 2021)
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.
Vattenfall Europe Sales GmbH was fined €900,000 for not informing customers about data comparisons used to prevent bonus shopping. The company failed to meet transparency requirements under GDPR. This case stresses the importance of clear communication with customers about data use.
What happened
Vattenfall compared customer data to prevent bonus shopping without properly informing them, violating GDPR transparency rules.
Who was affected
Around 500,000 prospective and existing customers of Vattenfall Europe Sales GmbH were affected by the data comparisons.
What the authority found
The Hamburg DPA fined Vattenfall €900,000 for not informing customers about data comparisons, violating transparency obligations under GDPR.
Why this matters
This fine underscores the necessity for companies to clearly inform customers about how their data is used. Transparency is crucial to maintaining trust and compliance with GDPR.
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The DPA from Hamburg has imposed a fine of EUR 900,000 on Vattenfall Europe Sales GmbH. The fine is related to data matching, which the controller had carried out in the period from August 2018 to December 2019 in the course of contract inquiries for special contracts. The special contracts served to attract new customers and were accompanied by bonus payments for the customers. The controller compared personal data of prospective customers who had submitted an inquiry for a special contract with contracts concluded by existing customers. If this revealed that an applicant had already signed a contract with the controller, then switched to another supplier and now wanted to sign a contract again, the controller could reject the application for the special contract if necessary. This was intended to prevent 'bonus shopping', which is not lucrative for the companies. However, the controller had not properly informed the customers that such comparisons would be made. The DPA considered this to be a violation of the company's transparency and information obligations. Around 500,000 people were affected.
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for Vattenfall Europe Sales GmbH in DE
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
Fine Date
24 September 2021
Authority
Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz
Fine Amount
€900,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-846
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Vattenfall Europe Sales GmbH - Germany (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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