Court case 2 K 98/20 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2022)
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.
A German court decided that information about former Bundestag members' health-related compensation is protected personal data. The court ruled that disclosing this information could lead to identifying individuals, which would violate their privacy. This case illustrates the balance between public interest and personal privacy in data requests.
What happened
A journalist's request for information on health-related compensation for former Bundestag members was denied to protect personal data.
Who was affected
Former members of the German Bundestag whose health-related compensation information was requested.
What the authority found
The court ruled that the requested information is protected personal data, and disclosing it could violate the privacy of the individuals involved.
Why this matters
This decision highlights the importance of protecting personal data, even when there is public interest. It serves as a reminder that privacy rights can outweigh transparency in certain cases, especially when sensitive information is involved.
GDPR Articles Cited
The plaintiff, a journalist, sought access to information in connection with the granting of "old-age compensation due to health problems" to former members of the Bundestag. He requested an anonymised or otherwise redacted overview of cases between 2000 and 2020 from the Bundestag, broken down by year and with information regarding whether they had been decided positively and negatively, as well as the number of cases since 2006 in which compensation had been paid out without their requirements being met. In addition, he requested an affirmation regarding the correctness and completeness of the information as well as access to all relevant administrative files. The German Bundestag rejected the plaintiff's applications on the grounds that access to information was contrary to the protection of personal data. It was highly likely that the applicant would be able to identify the persons concerned. This resulted from the fact that only a relatively small number of MPs left the German Bundestag prematurely. Since the career of individual MPs could be easily traced (e.g. by means of an internet search) the information and the files could be attributed to a narrowly defined group of persons, even if the documents were redacted. Insofar as the MPs were deceased, the disclosure would be contrary to the post-mortem right of personality. None of the persons concerned and none of the relatives of the deceased had declared their consent. The interest of the data subjects in secrecy outweighed the interest in information of the plaintiff, because the requested information was connected to the political mandate of the individuals concerned. In addition, it concerned sensitive health data. In three steps, the court held that the information concerning former members of the Bundestag is protected insofar as they are still alive. The court first established that the information concerning still living former members of the Bundestag constituted personal data. In accordance wi
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Court case 2 K 98/20 in DE
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case 2 K 98/20 - Germany (2022). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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