Tenants – Court Ruling (Germany, 2024)

The data subjects are tenants in a house which an estate agent (data processor) was commissioned to sell by the owners (controllers). On 11 August 2022, pictures of the interior were taken by the data processor's employees at an appointment with the data subjects while present, inviting the employees in. These pictures were published under a sales advertisement on a real estate website and included in a printed exposé that was handed out to prospective buyers during viewing appointments. Following the publication, the data subjects were approached by persons about the pictures of their living quarters, causing them to feel exposed and observed. On 12 January 2023, the controllers were requested by the data subjects to provide information about the storage of the pictures and to submit proof of a declaration of consent to the taking of the pictures by the data subjects. The same was requested of the data processor on 13 February 2023. The data processor was also requested to pay pre-trial legal fees of €659,74 by 24 February 2023. On 03 March 2023, the processor rejected the data subjects' claims, citing the immediate deletion of the pictures that had taken place since finding out the data subjects felt uncomfortable by them. The data subjects alleged that the processor took the pictures in question without their consent. The publication and resulting "unmasking" caused the subjects non-material damages that cannot be compensated by simply deleting the pictures. Therefore, they claim the processor is obligated to provide information and pay appropriate compensation for pain and suffering. They requested that the data processor be ordered to provide information about the pictures taken as well as whether and to what extent digital and/or analog copies of pictures on which the data subjects can be recognized in the property were made and where these are stored, that the processor be forced to provide verifiable evidence of this. They also requested a copy of persona