Germany: Issued ruling lawsuit regarding the obligation of telecommunication companies to store their clients' data (BVerwG 6 C 6.22)

On 14 August 2023, the German Supreme Court issued its ruling in a civil lawsuit regarding the obligation of telecommunication companies to store their clients data (BVerwG 6 C 6.22). The applicant, a telecommunication company, objected to the obligation imposed by the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In particular, TKG required providers to retain telecommunications traffic data of their customers. The Supreme Court found that the applicant is not obliged to store the telecommunications traffic data referred to in the law of their customers to whom they provide internet access or access to public telephone services. The obligation to store violates Union law and is therefore inapplicable in the applicants' case. The fundamental legal questions of Union law relevant in the present context had been clarified by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).