Data protection fine: VW escapes multi-million fine due to formal error

Volkswagen has been spared a potential fine of millions of euros due to a mishap at the Hanover public prosecutor's office. A fine of 4.3 million euros originally demanded by the state data protection authority will not be pursued. According to a report in the political journal Rundblick, the public prosecutor's office had not provided a decisive written pleading with the required signature.

The case revolves around data protection violations that are alleged to have occurred in the course of the investigation into the VW diesel scandal. The data protection supervisory authority alleges that VW violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The reason: the car manufacturer is said to have passed on information to Larry Thompson, the US supervisor appointed after the scandal became known. The employees affected were not clearly informed of this.

According to the report, VW took legal action against the fine imposed and was initially successful: at the end of February, the Hanover Regional Court ruled in favor of the company at first instance. The public prosecutor then lodged an appeal with the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Celle. However, this now had to be withdrawn. The reason: the grounds for the submission did not contain the handwritten signature of the responsible public prosecutor. A spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office acknowledged this "formal error" when lodging the appeal.

Opposition speaks of scandal

The serious consequence: VW does not have to pay the fine demanded, as the judgment of the regional court in favor of the Wolfsburg-based company thus becomes legally binding. It remains to be seen how the Higher Regional Court would have ruled in terms of content, as there will now be no further hearing in this matter. The spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office described the incident as an "isolated case" based on a "chain of unfortunate circumstances". He referred to the high workload of the authority, which is currently without a manager. Rundblick wonders: "Was it just sloppiness or did the car company have a guardian angel in the judiciary?"

The opposition CDU parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony state parliament reacted indignantly and spoke of a "scandal". It announced its intention to raise the issue of the bankruptcy in the Legal Affairs Committee. A spokesperson for the parliamentary group emphasized that this was not a marginal oversight, but a serious mistake. This caused "massive financial damage" to the state of Lower Saxony.

Parallel to these proceedings, VW had filed a lawsuit against the underlying data protection complaint itself. However, this request was not decided by the regional court, but by the administrative court. About a week ago, VW was only able to record a partial victory there: It is true that two of the total of five warnings issued by the data protection authority in 2023 were overturned. However, the judges left the decisive reprimand regarding the inadequate data protection information, which would have triggered the fine, in place. This ruling is not yet legally binding; VW has the option of lodging an appeal with the Higher Administrative Court. However, this would no longer have any effect on the fine proceedings that have now been averted.

(des)