Person pretending to be the data subject – Court Ruling (Germany, 2024)

On 2 May 2023, a person identifying themself under the name of the data subject lodged a complaint with the DPA against a controller, a court. This complaint alleged that the controller had not provided information as required by Article 13 and Article 14 GDPR. On 24 January 2024, the data subject filed an inactivity suit against the DPA on the same matter, requesting access to the administrative file. In a procedural order on 25 January 2024, the court requested the alleged data subject to provide proof of their identity within two weeks as there were doubts about whether the person acting in the case was in fact the data subject. On 6 February 2024, a submission arrived under the data subject’s name with a declaration of personal and economic circumstances and other documents, noting the data subject was unable to attend due to illness. A follow-up order on 9 February 2024 reminded the data subject of the identity requirement and sought justification for why access to the file should be transmitted in print or electronic form. No further response was received and no evidence of identity was provided. First, the court found that the person acting as the data subject had not demonstrated that they were the person affected by the underlying complaint procedure towards the supervisory authority. The court noted numerous indicators suggesting that the person acting in the procedure might not be the data subject, including failure to respond to repeated requests to prove identity, absence from the hearing, failure to provide requested medical evidence and personal/economic declarations. The court also referenced similar earlier cases by the same person (like 29 K 8881/22) where identity doubts had arisen. Because the person continued to press cases without establishing identity, the court stated it would in future simply file such claims rather than decide them. As a result, the objective and subjective elements of a legal interest in pursuing the alleged claim coul