In the preliminary injunction proceedings to be decided by the Cologne Regional Court, the applicant had criticized, among other things, the lack of a privacy policy on the defendant’s website.

Missing privacy policy is anti-competitive

The court came to the conclusion that this very absence was anti-competitive and could therefore be cautioned.
The court therefore obliged the defendant to refrain from doing so,

not to place a data protection declaration within the meaning of Section 13 TMG on the Internet pages of the domain www.anonym.de.

Obligation to maintain a privacy policy

§ Section 13 TMG states that the service provider must inform the user about the type, scope and purpose of the collection and use of personal data.
However, the provision does not expressly require the form of a privacy policy.

Although the court referred back to the market conduct rule of Section 13 TMG (see OLG Hamburg, 27.06.2013 – 3 U 26/12), which was also previously used in the area of competition law, it made it more specific by requiring the provision of a privacy policy.

Error-free privacy policy

The decision of the Cologne Regional Court does not provide any reasons.
However, it is clear that website operators should not ignore data protection regulations.
As with incorrect or missing legal notices, missing, incorrect or incomplete privacy policies can result in warnings.

Amendment to the Act on Injunctions for Consumer Rights and Other Infringements

In addition, the Act to Improve the Civil Law Enforcement of Consumer Protection Provisions of Data Protection Law came into force on February 24, 2016.

On this basis, the scope of the „Act on Injunctions for Consumer Rights and Other Infringements„ (UKlaG) is extended.
The Act allows interest groups, consumer protection associations and chambers of industry and commerce to sue for injunctive relief against acts that violate consumer protection.
The aim is to protect legal transactions.

Consumer protection standards now also include provisions that regulate the collection, processing and use of personal data.
As a result of this extension, it cannot be ruled out that associations will increasingly send warning letters due to incorrect data protection declarations in the future.