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Landgericht Berlin Fines Deutsche Wohnen €900,000 for GDPR Violations

The ruling accepts that the company kept sensitive tenant records beyond required retention periods while limiting the sanction on proportionality grounds and leaving the decision open to appeal.

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Wegen Datenschutzvergehen ist die Immobiliengesellschaft Deutsche Wohnen zu einer Geldstrafe von 900.000 Euro verurteilt worden. Das Landgericht Berlin sprach sie des Verstoßes gegen die Datenschutzgrundverordnung schuldig.
Fast eine Million Euro Strafe: Wohnungsunternehmen speichert Mieter-Daten zu lange

Overview

  • The Landgericht Berlin found Deutsche Wohnen guilty of violating the EU General Data Protection Regulation and on Tuesday ordered a €900,000 fine that replaces a 2019 penalty demand of €14.5 million.
  • Authorities say the company failed to delete unneeded tenant files between May 2018 and March 2019 and that sample checks turned up copies of ID documents, pay slips and rent-clearance certificates.
  • The case has a long procedural history: Berlin’s data regulator issued the €14.5 million notice in October 2019, the courts sent legal questions to the European Court of Justice, and a December 2023 EuGH ruling allowed fines against companies without naming a specific responsible natural person.
  • The court reduced the fine on proportionality grounds, citing Deutsche Wohnen’s cooperation, technical measures such as a new archive system introduced in 2019 and costly IT work, while stressing the company should have removed old data sooner.
  • The judgment is not final and may be appealed, a development that will affect how regulators set fines for large firms and how hundreds of thousands of affected tenants see enforcement of data-retention rules.