On May 27, 2020, the German Federal Constitutional Court invalidated section 113 of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG) and several accompanying federal law provisions for non-compliance with the German Constitution (case nos. 1 BvR 1873/13 and 1 BvR 2618/13). On July 17, 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court published the fully reasoned judgment as well as a press release outlining the Federal Constitutional Court’s key considerations (press release no. 61/2020 of July 17, 2020, available in German and English).

Background

Section 113 TKG enables German security authorities to request from providers of telecommunications services access to personal customer data linked to the conclusion or performance of a telecommunication services contract (Subscriber Data). Subscriber Data includes information such as a subscriber’s name, date of birth, telephone number, address, bank details, login data, or an IP-address assigned at a certain point of time. By contrast, data relating to the use of telecommunications services (so-called traffic data) is not covered by section 113 TKG.
Continue Reading Highest German Court invalidates Section 113 of the German Telecommunications Act and abandons service providers’ obligation to grant authorities access to subscriber data