Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Germany’s Top Court Allows Telecoms to Share Limited Customer Data With Schufa

Judges prioritized telecom fraud prevention over privacy objections, leaving the credit‑scoring question unresolved.

Overview

  • Germany’s Federal Court of Justice upheld the lawful transfer of identity details and contract start/end information from mobile providers to the credit bureau for fraud prevention.
  • The ruling rejects an injunction sought by the North Rhine–Westphalia consumer group and confirms an earlier decision by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
  • Consent is not required under the GDPR’s legitimate‑interest basis, the court found, citing evidence of rapid multi‑contract smartphone fraud in the telecom sector.
  • The judgment does not address whether Schufa may use these Positivdaten for credit scoring, and the company says it does not wish to receive such telecom data.
  • Reporting indicates parallel cases involving Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica Germany were resolved in the same way, and Vodafone welcomed the decision as protecting honest customers.