Data Protection Law (GDPR Conformity of your Company)

Typical cases of application of privacy law/data protection law in Germany:

• Procedural enforcement of claims for privacy violations: Ceasing and desisting of unauthorized use of personal data; deletion or blocking of personal data; information on the nature and extent of the unauthorized use of personal data; claims for damages
• Commercial exploitation of personal data
• Issues of legal justification for the use of personal data
• Effectiveness of consent to data sharing and data processing
• Instruction of the data subject on their right to object against the use and the processing of their personal data
• Duty to notify and to instruct the data subject on their privacy rights
• Collection and storage of data for own commercial purposes
• Data transfer to credit inquiry agencies
• Scoring
• Commercial collection and storage of data for the purpose of transfer
• Commercial collection and storage of data for the purpose of transfer in anonymized form
• Commercial data collection and storage for purposes of market or opinion research
• Data collection, data processing, and data use for employment-related purposes
• Collection, processing, and use of personal data by the media
• Collection, processing, or use of data for personal or family activities
• Special categories of personal data
• Issue whether the invasion of privacy and the unauthorized use and processing of personal data amounts to unfair competition in trade
• Data Protection Official: Responsibilities and duties
• Commissioned collection, processing, or use of personal data
• Transfer of personal data abroad (transborder data protection)
• Privacy on the Internet (German Telemedia Act)
• Privacy Policy for Internet websites
• Data Security: technical and organizational measures necessary to ensure data protection
• Monitoring of publicly accessible areas with optic-electronic devices
• Data protection audit
• Prohibition Orders and Penalty Charge Notices from German Data Protection Supervisory Authorities
• Injunctions of data protection supervisory authorities

Legal Representation before German Civil Courts

ZELLER & SEYFERT is a German litigation law firm with trial lawyers who specialize in enforcing the privacy interests of their clients before German and EU courts. The Federal German Data Protection Act provides data subjects with an extensive arsenal of legal remedies against privacy breaches. Data subjects can claim in particular the deletion or blocking of personal data, damages, and information on the nature and extent of the unauthorized use and processing of personal data. Our attorneys will promptly enforce these data protection claims on your behalf before the responsible German civil courts.

Legal Representation in Speedy Trials (Summary Proceedings)

Because data protection lawsuits may last several months until the responsible German civil court delivers its final verdict, seeking an injunction in a speedy trial (summary proceeding) before the responsible German civil court against the invader of your privacy is often advisable. In this way, you can temporarily stop the invasion of your privacy and the unauthorized use and processing of your personal data until the final verdict is delivered.

Our litigation attorneys are familiar with the intricacies of summary proceedings before German courts out of their day-to-day legal practice. They will quickly seek an injunction on your behalf in a speedy trial in order to preliminarily enforce your privacy rights. Please contact us for a discussion about your individual privacy case.

Cease and Desist Letters – Legal Representation Out of Court

It is generally a good idea to first send the invader of your privacy a cease and desist letter out of court. Our attorneys will do this forcefully and effectively on your behalf. We will request from the invader that they stop using and processing your personal data without your prior permission. In particular, we will demand them to sign a cease and desist declaration with a contractual penalty clause in it for your benefit. If the invader dares to violate such a signed cease and desist declaration in the future, they have to pay you a high penalty, usually about 5,000 Euros for each violation.

In the cease and desist letter, our attorneys will also claim the deletion or blocking of your personal data, damages, and information on the nature and extent of the unauthorized use of your personal data. If the violator of your privacy rights is not willing to cooperate with our attorneys, we will enforce your privacy rights in a timely manner before the responsible German court on your behalf.

Litigation Attorneys in Your Defense against Prohibition Orders and Penalty Charge Notices from the German Data Protection Supervisory Authorities

Should you have received mail from a German data protection supervisory authority, a rapid, but nevertheless well-conceived response by a German attorney is usually necessary. A prohibition order by a German data protection supervisory authority may prescribe that you no longer have access to all your data. The German data protection supervisory authority may even close down and seal your entire business operation. The German data protection supervisory authorities usually appreciate it when they can discuss and solve the data protection issues at hand with a knowledgeable attorney who is specialized in German data protection law. Our attorneys will provide you with our expertise in German data protection law. They will deal with the German data protection supervisory authorities on your behalf and help you solve all legal issues with the German authorities.

When things have already gone wrong and the German data protection supervisory authority has already imposed fines on your company or served your company with a prohibition order, our attorneys will check and analyze the legal situation in a timely manner. If an amicable solution is not possible with the German authorities, our attorneys will advise your company on the available remedies for court action against the imposing order by the data protection office. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your data protection case with us in detail.

Litigation Attorneys in Your Defense against Claims of Privacy Violations Pleaded by Private Individuals

If a private individual raises data protection claims against you or your company, our attorneys will carefully check whether you really need to refrain from further using and processing certain personal data, whether you in fact need to delete or block the personal data in question, and whether you actually owe information and damages to the opposite side. As a precautionary measure, our attorney will send a caveat to all potentially responsible courts on behalf of your company. In a speedy trial concerning the data protection issue in question, the court will consider our caveat in its decision whether a preliminary injunction shall be issued against your company. If an injunction has already been served to your company, ZELLER & SEYFERT will file an opposition with the court on behalf of your company and seek to have the injunction voided.

ZELLER & SEYFERT will defend your company proficiently in any data protection case before German courts. Please contact our law firm to discuss your chances of success in your individual case with our attorneys.