Isa Kabakci

September 29, 2023, 3:39 pm | Read time: 4 minutes

For many years, mobile network providers are said to have shared their customers’ contract data. This was revealed by an analysis from two consumer law firms, WBS.Legal and Legalbild. They reportedly requested around 15,000 Schufa reports for their clients and found in over 3,500 cases that mobile providers had shared data–they could now face a large class-action lawsuit.

Several months ago, the Munich I Regional Court ruled that the sharing of positive data with Schufa was illegal. At that time, a customer of Telefónica (O2), supported by the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center, filed a lawsuit and won. The sharing requires the consent of the customers. However, it should be noted that the ruling is not yet legally binding.

5,000 Euros per person if the ruling is successful

In a statement from the law firms, it says: “We currently assume that those affected are entitled to compensation of up to 5,000 euros. These are compensation payments that several courts have also ruled in the past for illegal Schufa entries.”

The problem is that Schufa knows that a contract was concluded with a provider at a certain time, even though Schufa doesn’t need to know this. The law firm also mentions that entering into multiple contracts could be negatively interpreted by Schufa.

In addition to the 5,000 euros in compensation, customers also have another claim. The transmitted information at Schufa about a concluded mobile contract must be deleted if the lawsuit is successful.

Sharing despite clear regulations

As already mentioned, positive data from mobile customers was shared. However, there is a clear regulation here. In 2018, it was decided during the Data Protection Conference (DSK) that “for the transmission and processing of so-called positive data, effective consent of the affected person is regularly required, taking into account the high requirements for voluntariness,” which was confirmed again at the DSK 2021.

Positive data are information that arises when a contract is concluded. These are not negative entries, payment arrears, etc. In the positive data, one can see when and with whom a contract was concluded.

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TECHBOOK inquired with WBS.Legal

TECHBOOK asked WBS.Legal for a statement and posed some questions about the potential class-action lawsuit. Christian Solmecke is a lawyer at WBS.Legal and specializes in IT and media law. He says: “We are firmly convinced that the lawsuit will be successful. […] We base our lawsuits on already existing judgments and statements.” He refers to the ruling of the Munich I Regional Court and the decision of the Data Protection Conference.

However, he could not say whether mobile providers are still sharing data. It is important that further information is requested and reviewed, Solmecke said. According to the lawyer, around 32,000 inquiries have already been received.

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An ongoing issue

As early as 2021, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” together with NDR found that almost all mobile providers in Germany had shared contract data with Schufa without the customers’ consent.

If you want to know if you are affected, you can also contact the law firms. A free form is available for this purpose. After filling it out, the law firms will investigate whether your contract data was also shared.

Whether a class-action lawsuit against mobile providers will ultimately occur is still unclear. Further Schufa reports would need to be evaluated for this.

Source

• WBS.Legal: “Illegal sharing of mobile contract data with Schufa” (accessed September 28, 2023)
• Munich I Regional Court: “Sharing of positive data with SCHUFA inadmissible” (accessed September 28, 2023) via Consumer Center NRW