On June 4, 2024, the District Court of Frankenthal (the Court) issued its decision in Case No. 3 O 300/23, in which it dismissed the case against the defendant for posting photos of the plaintiffs' house for sale in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Background to the decision

The plaintiffs were the tenants of a house that the defendants were commissioned to sell. The defendants' employees took photos of the house on a date agreed by the plaintiffs. The photos were subsequently posted online, after which the plaintiffs were approached by people regarding the house. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant took the photos without their consent. The plaintiffs alleged that the publication of the photos and the resulting unmasking caused the plaintiffs non-material damage that cannot be compensated for by deleting the photos.

Findings of the Court

The Court found that the plaintiffs have no claim against the defendant for information or photocopies of the photographs, nor any claim for damages. Additionally, the defendant has only violated Article 7(3) of the GDPR. 

The Court found that the defendant did not violate Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR in conjunction with Article 7(1) of the GDPR since the plaintiffs effectively consented to the processing of personal data, namely the production of photographs of the interior of the property occupied by the plaintiffs, and the violation of Article 7(3) of the GDPR does not retroactively invalidate the consent given by the plaintiffs. Despite the consent of the plaintiffs, the defendant, regardless of the disputed instruction to the plaintiffs about the corresponding data processing, did not inform them of the right to withdraw consent to data processing in accordance with Article 7(3) of the GDPR. However, this violation does not mean that the plaintiffs' consent should be regarded as invalid from the outset. The plaintiffs have ultimately not demonstrated that they have suffered any material or immaterial damage at all.

Outcomes

The Court dismissed the action and ordered the plaintiffs to bear the costs of the proceedings.

You can read the decision, only available in German, here.