Many companies violate Data Protection Act

One out of five companies, according to estimates by the association Bundesverband Informationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien (Bitkom), violates the rules of the Federal Data Protection Act (⇒ Wikipedia). The association therefore cautions against careless handling of customer data. Although the processing of these data has become a matter of daily routine in virtually any company, data protection imposed by law is not ensured adequately according to the association.

“Data disclosure which is done in violation of the Act my be avenged as a regulatory or criminal offense in the form of fines or even imprisonment”, is warned against by data protection expert of the Bitkom, Kai Kuhlman. Furthermore, a careless handling of data puts at risk the confidence of customers and partners. Quite often confidential data are forwarded to international data bases or partners without adequate knowledge of the legal position, says Mr. Kuhlman.

Bitkom is now trying to familiarise the companies with the regulations by means of the publications Forwarding of individual-related data – Germany, EU and third countries and Specification of procedures and processing manual. A PDF version of the Federal Data Protection Law is available for download on the website of the Federal Justice Ministry. GERMAN

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