In episode 195 of ‘Follow the Rechtsstaat’, Prof. Niko Härting and Dr Stefan Brink discuss the classification of ‘Jüdische Stimme’ by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the budgetary exemption under the GDPR, injunctive relief under data protection law, and the question of whether data protection constitutes a competitive disadvantage.
First, Härting and Brink examine a ruling by the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg concerning the classification of the organisation ‘Jüdische Stimme’ by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
They then turn their attention to two references from the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) concerning the so-called ‘household exception’ under Article 2(2)(c) of the GDPR. In one case, private chat messages were forwarded to an employer; in the other, video recordings made secretly within a family were handed over to the police. The two discuss when data processing can still be regarded as exclusively personal or domestic.
Another topic is the question of whether, in addition to the claims under the GDPR, injunctive relief may also be available under national law. This stems from a judgement of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) dated 21 July 2026 (VI ZR 144/23).
Finally, Härting and Brink discuss data protection as a potential competitive disadvantage and differing assessments of the economic consequences of data protection regulation.