Germany: Announced Bavarian Proposal for Federal Law to Prevent Data Protection Violation Claims Through Competition Law

On 23 April 2023, the Bavarian State Government announced its decision to introduce a bill to the German Federal Council aimed at preventing the pursuit of data protection violations through the Act Against Unfair Competition (UWG). This initiative seeks to address the legal ambiguity and potential for misuse associated with the current practice of (alleged) competitors issuing warnings for minor formal errors on websites as violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Specifically, the proposal responds to the exploitation of GDPR breaches for strategic litigation, exemplified by the widespread issuance of warnings to companies for using certain Google Fonts that automatically transmit IP addresses.