The German Federal Cabinet adopted the Telecommunications and Telemedia Data Protection Act (Telekommunikation-Telemedien-Datenschutzgesetz – TTDSG, available here) on February 10, 2021. The TTDSG, among other things, provides new rules on cookies and similar technologies (Cookies), introducing only two categories of Cookies: (1) strictly necessary Cookies and (2) consent-based Cookies. The legal basis of legitimate interests cannot be relied upon for Cookies anymore. Germany will be the last member state to transpose Article 5(3) of the Directive 2002/58/EC, amended by Directive 2009/136/EC (ePrivacy Directive) into national law – almost a decade after the deadline passed, and ignoring the extensive discussions on the Cookie provisions in the ePrivacy Regulation (and particularly the exceptions from the consent requirement).
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German Court orders WhatsApp to provide consumers in Germany with T&Cs in German language
In a press release dated 17 May 2016, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband – vzbv) announced that on 8 April 2016, the Court of Appeal Berlin (Kammergericht Berlin; “Court”) issued a judgment against WhatsApp Inc., prohibiting WhatsApp the use of English Terms & Conditions on its website for contracts with consumers in Germany, unless German T&Cs are provided as well (“Judgment”). However, the Judgment is not yet binding.
Continue Reading German Court orders WhatsApp to provide consumers in Germany with T&Cs in German language