- Enforcing jurisdiction
- Germany · Geography does not establish applicable law.
- Confirmed applicable legislation
- No confirmed legal basis recorded.
- Privacy topics
Physician – €5,000 Fine (Germany, 2021)
Privacy enforcement record
This record is classified outside cookie consent. Subject classification does not confirm an applicable law. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.
A doctor in Germany was fined for creating a WhatsApp group without getting consent from its members. This is important because it reminds healthcare providers to protect patient privacy and ensure that personal information is shared responsibly.
What happened
The doctor set up a WhatsApp group with 230 participants to share their new office address without consent.
Who was affected
Members of the WhatsApp group, including parents of former patients, whose phone numbers were disclosed.
What the authority found
The DPA found that the doctor unlawfully processed personal data by not obtaining consent from group members.
Why this matters
This ruling emphasizes that healthcare professionals must prioritize patient privacy and obtain consent before sharing personal information. It serves as a warning to others in the medical field.
View original scraped data
Original imported citations before automated processing; the processing history does not establish independent verification.
Source checks
Linked-source text retrieved.
Automated check recorded — 15 March 2026.
Processing notes: authority corrected.
Retrieved text may be a secondary summary or an announcement. These automated statuses do not establish that the original decision was read or that the record received an independent legal review. How we check sources
The DPA of Brandenburg has imposed a four-digit fine on a doctor of child and adolescent psychotherapy. The doctor had set up a Whatsgroup with 230 participants to communicate their new office address. A mother of a former minor patient had filed a complaint with the DPA over this, because the doctor had not obtained consent for the group. All group members were disclosed the phone numbers of other members. In some cases, group members were able to draw conclusions that children from families known to them were or had been in treatment with the physician. For this reason, the DPA determined that the doctor had unlawfully processed the data of the WhatsApp group members due to a failure to obtain consent.
Related Enforcement Actions (4)
Other enforcement actions involving Physician in DE
Fine
€5K
Details
Fine Date
1 January 2021
Authority
Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz
Fine Amount
€5,000
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Physician - Germany (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
Last updated: