The latest podcast with Stefan Brink and Niko Härting focuses on appropriate and inappropriate conduct by public authorities.
First, we discuss (00:35) the misconduct of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. In the run-up to the awarding of the German Booksellers’ Prize for 2025, the Commissioner had three bookshops removed from the jury’s shortlist in January 2026. In an interview with Die Zeit, he commented, among other things: “If the state awards prizes and uses taxpayers’ money, it cannot do so for political extremists.”
The urgent application lodged against this with the Berlin Administrative Court was successful; it was ruled that there was no reliable factual basis for the label “extremists”, and that it exceeded the bounds of the requirement for objectivity applicable to official statements.
Niko and Stefan then (10:00) discuss a guide on data protection impact assessments (Art. 35 GDPR, templates and explanations), on which the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has launched a public consultation.
Finally (22:20), the discussion turns to a decision by the Ansbach Administrative Court dated 2 February 2026. The claimant sought supervisory action by the defendant, the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (LDA), regarding allegedly illegal video surveillance. In its final notice, the LDA informed the claimant that it would not take any supervisory measures against the controller. The video surveillance, as reported to the LDA, was not unlawful under data protection law. The claim was unfounded; the Administrative Court also found no breach of the GDPR by the impeccable Ministry.