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No compensation for individual advertising emails

A customer felt harassed by an email and demanded 500 euros in compensation for an alleged GDPR violation. However, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) dismissed the claim.

The customer had purchased a letterbox sticker from an online shop in 2019 and received an advertising email in 2020 stating that the company was still there for him despite the coronavirus pandemic. He objected to the use of his data and demanded a cease-and-desist declaration and compensation. As the retailer did not respond immediately, the customer sued.

Both the district court and the regional court rejected his claim as the retailer had issued a cease-and-desist declaration. The BGH confirmed these decisions (judgement of 28.01.2025 - VI ZR 109/23).

The plaintiff argued that he had lost control of his data and had to deal with the origin of the email, which had burdened him. However, the BGH saw no demonstrable damage. A temporary loss of control alone was not sufficient - there had to be evidence of specific misuse or disclosure of the data.

The BGH thus clarified that advertising emails to existing customers are not automatically a breach of data protection. Without concrete damage, there is no entitlement to compensation.

Source: www.onlinehaendler-news.de

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