Tenant – Court Ruling (Germany, 2022)

The controller is the landlord, the data subject the tenant of a flat, which is located in a multi-party building. In 2019, the controller informed the data subject that they wanted to carry out an inspection of the data subject's flat due to complaints about strong odours and vermin in the stairwell. After finding the flat in a state of disrepair, the controller asked the data subject to clean and clear it out. They complied immediately. They then wanted to know which of their flatmates had complained about them. After the complaints were revised on the occasion of the cleaning, the controller suggested to let the matter rest. By means of the lawsuit, the data subject, on the basis of Article 15(1) GDPR, requested information on the personal data processed by the controller concerning them, including information about which of their flatmates had complained about them, as well as the payment of damages for pain and suffering, and the reimbursement of pre-litigation legal costs. The data subject failed with their request both at the Regional Court of Ravensburg (LG Ravensburg) and the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart (OLG Stuttgart). According to both courts' reasoning, the controller would be acting contrary to the interests of the informant under data protection law if the name of the informant was disclosed. The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) held that the data controller may be obligated to provide information to the data subject pursuant to Article 15(1)(g) GDPR, depending on whether the information about them was accurate, and referred the case back to the OLG Stuttgart. The BGH explained that the claim of the data subject would only not exist if the informant's interest in not having their data disclosed or the interests of the controller outweighed the data subject's right to information. It emphasised that due regard must be paid to both the data subject's and the informant's fundamental rights pursuant to Articles 7(1) and