Electronics store – €16,000 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.
An electronics store in Germany was fined EUR 16,000 for using CCTV to record employees and customers without proper justification. The authorities found this violated privacy rules because the surveillance was excessive and unnecessary. This case highlights the importance of using video surveillance only when truly needed and conducting proper privacy assessments.
What happened
The electronics store used CCTV to continuously record employees and customers without a valid reason.
Who was affected
Employees and customers who were recorded by the store's CCTV system.
What the authority found
The authority found that the store's surveillance was excessive and violated the GDPR's data minimization principle.
Why this matters
This case underscores the need for businesses to justify the use of surveillance and ensure it is proportionate. Companies should conduct privacy impact assessments to avoid similar fines.
GDPR Articles Cited
The DPA from Lower Saxony has imposed a fine of EUR 16,000 on an electronics store. The company had installed a video surveillance system which permanently recorded employees, customers as well as the company's premises and technical equipment. The CCTV was installed for the purpose of protecting customers, employees, safeguarding the company's property rights and prosecuting criminal acts and vandalism. The DPA stated that the recording of employees was not necessary to ensure the purposes associated with the CCTV and was therefore disproportionate. The DPA therefore found that the controller violated the principle of data minimization under Art. 5 (1) c) GDPR. The DPA also found that the company stored the recordings excessively long and, in addition, had not conducted a data protection impact assessment.
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for Electronics store in DE
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
Fine Date
1 January 2021
Authority
Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz
Fine Amount
€16,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-1335
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Electronics store - Germany (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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