Court case VI ZB 39/18 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2019)

Court Ruling
DPA OLGFrankfurt24 September 2019Germany
final
ePrivacy
Court Ruling

A court ruled on a case involving the sharing of user data for legal claims. The ruling clarified that user data can be disclosed under certain conditions, even if it doesn't relate to cookies or consent. This is important for businesses to understand how they can legally share data when necessary.

What happened

The court addressed the legality of disclosing user data for civil law claims.

Who was affected

Users whose data was considered for disclosure in civil law cases.

What the authority found

The court determined that sharing user data for civil law claims can be permissible under specific legal grounds.

Why this matters

This ruling sets a precedent for how user data can be shared in legal contexts, helping businesses navigate their responsibilities when handling user information.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR
Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR
Art. 6(4) GDPR
Art. 23(1)(j) GDPR
View original scraped data
Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR
Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR
Art. 6(4) GDPR
Art. 23(1)(j) GDPR

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

National Law Articles

AI-identified

German Telemedia Act (TMG)
Decision AuthorityBundesgerichtshof
Reviewed AuthorityOLG Frankfurt (Germany)
Source verified 14 April 2026
national law identified
authority corrected
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

The applicant does not have a user account on Facebook, nor uses the Facebook Messenger, but she found out that other users shared messages with her friends and family members. She claimed that the messages included untrue allegations about her and she requested to be provided with all the relevant data of the users’ accounts in order to support civil law claims. The German Federal Court of Justice noted, that the German Telemedia Act (TMG) covers the social network service providers, including Facebook Messenger. This Act allows the disclosure of user data by the providers for the enforcement of civil law claims and according to the Court it constitutes a necessary and proportionate measure in a democratic society as required under Article 23(1)(j) GDPR. Moreover, the exception provided for under Article 6(4) GDPR which allows processing for different purposes when it is based on Member State law is not limited to the fulfillment of a “legal obligation” or “public interest” according to Article 6(1)(c) GDPR and Article 6(1)(e) GDPR.

Outcome

Court Ruling

A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.

Related Cases (0)

No other cases found for Court case VI ZB 39/18 in DE

This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Ruling Date

24 September 2019

Authority

DPA OLGFrankfurt

About this data

Data: GDPRhub (noyb.eu)
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified

Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case VI ZB 39/18 - Germany (2019). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

Report Inaccuracy

Last updated: