Social, Mobile, Analytics & Cloud (SMAC)

The German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr – BMDV) has drawn up a new draft bill which shall introduce:

  • (i) a statutory obligation for providers of number-independent interpersonal communication services (e.g. instant messaging services) to allow their users to use end-to-end encryption (“E2EE”), and (ii) a statutory transparency obligation for such providers to inform their users accordingly; and
  • a statutory transparency obligation for providers of certain cloud services to inform their users about how to use continuous and secure encryption (“Draft Bill”).

The Draft Bill (status 7 February 2024), which does not have any basis in EU law, is available here (German content).Continue Reading Germany’s government plans to introduce a statutory ‘right to encryption’ for users of messaging and cloud storage services

On 4 May 2022, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) launched a consultation (available here) to request views from the tech industry on potential interventions to enhance security and privacy requirements for firms running app stores and developers making apps.Continue Reading Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport launches consultation on app security

In a recent decision of December 19, 2021, case no. 1 BvR 1073/20 (published with an official press release dated February 2, 2022), the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht – BVerfG) set aside several judgments of the Berlin civil courts. The Berlin civil courts had denied the plaintiff, who alleges she was exposed to hate speech on a social network, the right to demand from the operator of the social network access to customer data, i.e., the full names of the users who had posted the content that the plaintiff considered to be hate speech. In the view of the BVerfG, the Berlin courts had failed to properly balance the parties’ interests and thereby had violated the plaintiff’s fundamental rights.
Continue Reading Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court provides guidance for assessing claims against hate speech on social media

The Spring 2021 Edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released:

English version

German version

In this edition we cover the following topics:

  1. New cookie rules in Germany will apply as of December 1, 2021
  2. German data protection authorities conduct coordinated audits on international data transfers

The Winter 2021 Edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released:

English version

German version

In this edition we cover the following topics:

  1. Strengthening fair competition – changes to the law against unfair competition
  2. Cologne Regional Court on the broad concept of the right to access

The Fall 2020 Edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released:

English version

German version

In this edition we cover the following topics:

1. Data transfers following Schrems II
2. German Supreme Court: Relationship between the GDPR and the German Act on the Protection of Copyrights

Michael R. Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, announced the “Clean Network Program” which aims to ban the so-called “untrusted” carriers, applications, mobile application stores, cloud service providers, operators of undersea cables connecting the United States and the global internet on August 5, 2020. Companies that are involved in these businesses, or entities that transact

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the brand ambassador and influencer industry in different ways. Social media engagement is up. Screen times have increased. Advertising campaigns of brand ambassadors for organizations and influencers might have been adjusted. Self-quarantining audiences have different demands. With the strong trust from their followers, influencers on social media channels such as

The Summer 2020 Edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released:

English version

German version

In this edition we cover the following topics:

  1. Access rights vs. data backup
  2. Cookie update: Planet49 and cookie walls
  3. Double opt-in required under GDPR
  4. Update on influencer advertisement
  5. German Supreme Court:

On April 1, 2020, Germany’s federal government published a new draft bill to amend the German Hate Speech Act (Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz – “NetzDG”; see also our earlier blog of October 2, 2017). The draft bill (“Bill”) is available in German here.

The Bill will introduce a number of improvements for users of social networks. It will also supplement the amendments to the NetzDG proposed already on February 19, 2020 in the Draft Bill to Combat Right-wing Extremism and Hate Crime (Gesetzentwurf zur Bekämpfung des Rechtsextremismus und der Hasskriminalität; more information is available in German here). In particular, platform providers will need to arrange for more user-friendly notification procedures, and also establish and maintain procedures that enable users to object to the deletion of comments they have made and have their comments reposted on the platform.Continue Reading German government introduces new bill to amend Germany’s Hate Speech Act, establishing new requirements for social networks and video-sharing platforms