What data protection violations can government employees commit?
When Public Officials Misuse Your Data – Your Rights as an Affected Person. Public authorities store vast amounts of personal data daily: residency registration data, tax information, social welfare records, health data, police intelligence. All of this information is specially protected by data protection law. But what happens when public officials themselves violate data protection regulations? What happens if public employees access, disclose, or use your data for private purposes without authorization? In such situations, you as the affected person often face a powerful adversary. The law firm Sittig supports you in enforcing your rights against authorities and public bodies. The public sector processes sensitive personal data daily. The temptation or even the possibility of misusing this data is diverse. The following violations occur in practice:
Unauthorized access to personal data
Government employees have access to extensive databases as part of their work. However, not all access is lawful. A violation occurs when an employee accesses data for which there is no official necessity for processing, for example, if a case worker at the job center views the file of a person who is not within their area of responsibility, or if a police officer queries license plate and owner addresses for private reasons.Disclosure of data to unauthorized persons
A particularly serious form of data protection violation is the unauthorized disclosure of personal information to third parties. This includes, for example, when a resident registration office employee passes on a person's new address to an ex-partner, when social data is transmitted to employers or landlords, or when health data from the health office falls into the hands of outsiders.Use of official knowledge for private purposes
Public officials have access to information through their official capacity that is not available to the general public. If they use this knowledge for personal gain, for example, to harm competitors, favor acquaintances, or pursue their own economic interests, this constitutes a serious breach of data protection and official duties.Impermissible data queries in registers
Registration records, vehicle registration records, Central Register of Foreigners, social security data – all these registers are accessible to authorities for precisely defined purposes. Accessing data outside of these purposes is unlawful. In the past, cases have become known where police officers conducted register inquiries for private acquaintances or passed them on to journalists.Data breaches due to negligence
Not every data protection violation is intentional. Negligence can also constitute a breach of personal data protection: unencrypted emails with social data, lost files with sensitive information, or accidental mass mailings to the wrong recipients. Here too, affected individuals have rights and claims.Denial of access and data subject rights
According to Art. 15 GDPR, you have the right to request information from any authority about what data is stored about you and for what purpose. If this right is denied, delayed, or incompletely fulfilled, this also constitutes a violation of data protection law.
What legal bases are relevant?
What can you do as a affected person?
If you suspect or know that government employees have processed your data unlawfully, several avenues are open to you:
Step 1: Request information
First, submit a formal request for information under Article 15 GDPR to the authority concerned. This authority is obliged to inform you within one month which data concerning you is stored, for what purpose, and who the recipients of this data were.Step 2: Complaint to the Data Protection Authority
You can lodge a complaint with the competent data protection supervisory authority at any time. For federal authorities, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is responsible; for state authorities, the respective state data protection commissioners are responsible. The authority is obliged to investigate your complaint.Step 3: Claim damages
Article 82 GDPR grants you a claim for damages against the controller if you have suffered material or immaterial damage due to the data protection breach. Immaterial damages, i.e., compensation for pain and suffering for the loss of trust and control suffered, are increasingly being awarded by German courts.Step 4: File a criminal complaint
In cases of intentional violations, particularly unauthorized data disclosure or accessing registers for personal purposes, a criminal complaint may be advisable. This is especially true if a public official or employee has deliberately misused your data.
Why Legal Assistance Is Crucial
Data protection violations by authorities are often difficult to prove and even more difficult to enforce. Authorities rarely respond voluntarily to complaints with a full admission of guilt. The law firm Sittig knows the typical defense mechanisms of public bodies and knows how you can still effectively enforce your rights. We will help you with the formulation of information requests and complaints, assessing whether a claim for damages is realistic, preparing and filing lawsuits before administrative and ordinary courts, and with criminal charges in cases of intentional misconduct.
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