On December 17, 2015, the German Parliament adopted legislation (source document in German) allowing civil claimants to enforce violations of data protection provisions protecting consumer rights (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Verbesserung der zivilrechtlichen Durchsetzung von verbraucherschützenden Vorschriften des Datenschutzrechts). Under the proposed legislation, consumer associations and other defined associations would be allowed bring collective actions for data protection violations. The new law awaits adoption by the Federal Council before taking effect.
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