Data protection: almost twice as many breaches in Hamburg in 2024 as in 2023
Hamburg's data protection officer has already concluded 14 cases. The cases range from security problems to secret filming in the bathroom.
The number of completed fine proceedings for GDPR violations in Hamburg is already almost twice as high as in the whole of 2023.
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The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HmbBfDI), Thomas Fuchs, has already imposed sanctions in 14 cases up to July of the current year. This is significantly more than in previous years. The number of administrative offenses in the current year is already significantly higher than in previous years. In 2023, eight proceedings were concluded in the entire year, compared to 15 in 2022.
Hotel stores ID card data
The fines amount to a total of 130,000 euros, according to the Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner. Those sanctioned include a hotel and two police employees. Violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) included, for example, secret bathroom recordings in a private context, failure to comply with deletion obligations, delayed information or security gaps in customer service systems.
One company from the advertising industry had to pay 11,500 euros because it failed to comply with its deletion obligations. The company's IT system also had technical security gaps, explained the commissioner. A hotel was fined 16,000 euros for collecting and storing ID card data without a legal basis.
Neighbor filmed in the bathroom
Other security breaches also resulted in a fine. Two companies whose support ticket systems were vulnerable paid a total of 45,000 euros. "A logistics company paid 32,000 euros due to the incorrect disposal of delivery lists and an online retailer paid 6,000 euros due to the significantly delayed reporting of a data breach," Fuchs continues.
Two members of the police force were also in the spotlight. The commissioner prosecuted them because they had carried out official database searches for private purposes.
Fuchs also prosecuted private individuals: "In one case, a man stalked his neighbor and made a video of her in the bathroom," the press release states. Five people had also photographed other people or saved images without their consent.
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