On 17 December 2015, the German Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) passed a bill on the improvement of enforcement of data protection provisions protecting consumers (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Verbesserung der zivilrechtlichen Durchsetzung von verbraucherschützenden Vorschriften des Datenschutzrechts). Under the new law, registered consumer associations will have the right to sue companies for violations of data protection laws (“class actions”). To this aim, certain amendments will be made to the German Injunction Act (Unterlassungsklagengesetz). The bill is subject to signing by the Federal President and announcement in the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt). The new law will enter into force one day after announcement in the Federal Law Gazette.
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