Court case 11 LA 104/19 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2020)

The applicant is the owner of a company [handling prohibited substances] and of two vehicles for which the defendant ordered transmission blocks in accordance with § 41(2) of the Straßenverkehrsgesetz - StVG (Law on Road Traffic) - in the register of vehicles. With regard to restrictions in those orders, the plaintiff brought proceedings before the Verwaltungsgericht (Administrative Court). The defendant confirmed that it complies with the current data protection regulations and does not carry out an unencrypted transmission of his personal data by electronic means. In the context of the proceedings, the defendant sent to its lawyer, by fax the decision ordering the blocking of transmission of the applicant's vehicle. That decision contains, inter alia, the name and address of the applicant, the vehicle identification number and the registration number of the vehicle. The notice was sent unencrypted without anonymisation of the personal data. It is disputed 1) Whether the transmission by the authority by fax of a decision containing personal data was unlawful 2) Whether personal data are transmitted by fax, the authority must take precautionary measures to guarantee the fundamental right to informational self-determination of the person concerned and which level of protection needs to be complied with. The court held that the transmission by the authority by fax of a decision containing personal data was unlawful. The level of protection needs to be complied with depends on the sensitivity and importance of the data to be transmitted, the potential risks involved in fax transmission, the degree to which the data subject is in need of protection and the effort required for the security measures. It is also irrelevant that the decision was not sent by fax to any third party but to the defendant's representative, who, like his employees, is subject to the obligation of confidentiality. There is a risk of abuse by unauthorised third parties, which may occur at any time.