EDPB Fining Guidelines May Face Similar Struggles to German Scheme
EDPB Fining Guidelines May Face Similar Struggles to German Scheme
In November 2020, Morrison Foerster’s German Data Privacy team, led by partner Hanno Timner, helped telecommunications service provider 1&1 slash a fine imposed as part of data protection proceedings by more than 90 percent from €9.55 million to €900,000 in the first-ever judgment rendered by a German court on a GDPR fine. At the time, the decision in this case was seen as a possible milestone for any future fine regimes in Germany and Europe. One and a half years later, there are still a lot of discussions going on around GDPR fining guidelines. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) just announced its new guidelines, which set out a five-step calculation methodology for GDPR finesand may also have an impact on the regulations currently in place in Germany. In this article, Hanno Timner and other attorneys comment on the EDPB’s efforts and put them in perspective when compared with the current regulations in Germany.