Court case Az. 1 L 3441/25 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2026)

The controller had been registered in the list of qualified consumer associations since 2001. In 2021, the registration authority initiated proceedings to verify whether the controller still met the registration requirements. The controller was required to submit a list of members containing the first name, surname, date of birth and address of at least 75 natural persons (the data subjects) as part of this review procedure. The controller refused to submit a corresponding list of members on two separate occasions, stating that this requirement raised data protection concerns and that the disclosure of personal data of the members would be irreversible. In addition, the controller considered the measure to be disproportionate. The registration authority subsequently removed the controller from the list of qualified consumer associations in April 2025. The controller filed an objection against the decision, which the registration authority rejected. In December 2025, the controller submitted an application for interim relief. The court dismissed the application for interim relief. It held that the processing of personal data that is inevitably associated with the creation of a membership list and its submission to the registration authority did not raise any data protection concerns as it was lawful under Article 6(1)(c) GDPR. In this case, the controller was subject to a legal obligation to submit a list of members to demonstrate that it met the registration requirements for qualified consumer associations under national law. Furthermore, the court held the measure was in line with the principle of data minimization under Article 5(1)(c) GDPR: first, the scope of the request was limited to data indispensable for the identification of individuals. Second, the court stated that the group of data subjects was also not defined in a disproportionately broad manner.