OVG RLP - 7 B 10360/23
| OVG RLP - 7 B 10360/23 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court: | OVG RLP (Germany) |
| Jurisdiction: | Germany |
| Relevant Law: | Article 6(1)(e) GDPR Article 6(1)(f) GDPR German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations |
| Decided: | 20.06.2023 |
| Published: | |
| Parties: | VG Mainz |
| National Case Number/Name: | 7 B 10360/23 |
| European Case Law Identifier: | |
| Appeal from: | VG Mainz 3 L 108/23 |
| Appeal to: | Unknown |
| Original Language(s): | German |
| Original Source: | JURIS (in German) |
| Initial Contributor: | Sainey Belle |
The Higher Administrative court of Rhineland-Palatinate held that the provision of data to authorities for driving offences on a company car is permitted per Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
English Summary
Facts
The applicant in the present case - the controller - is a vehicle owner that provides cars to third parties. One of these cars was used to commit traffic offences. Therefore, the competent administration asked the controller to disclose the identity of the driver. In addition, the administration ordered the controller to keep a log of their vehicles, the people to which they were provided and other details concerning the services offered by the controller. The legal basis for such an obligation can be found in the German traffic law.
The controller refused to comply with the order and appealed it before a court. The controller argued that the GDPR precludes the disclosure of personal data of the driver(s) to the authorities and the keeping of a logbook with the drivers' names.
The first instance court rejected the claim and the controller appealed the decision before the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate (Oberverwaltungsgericht Rheinland-Pfalz, OVG Rheinland-Pfalz).
Holding
The controller was a company who allowed their employees to utilise the company vehicle. Two traffic violations were committed on June 11 2022 and September 6 2022 and it was not established which employee had driven the car at that time. The authorities attempted to conduct an investigation in order to ascertain the driver by questioning the employees during four onsite checks. The employees were not very cooperative and the managing director was not available during any of the onsite visits. Per the court, the authorities questioning of the employees was sufficient as an investigative measure. It is the responsibility of the company to ensure internally that the management team or the employees who can reasonably provide reliable information about the use of company cars are informed. As the company were not very cooperative with the authorities, they were no longer expected to continue digging for information.
The controller sought to rely on the GDPR for its refusal to provide the name of the driver. As per the court, the disclosure of the personal data of the driver would permissable pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR for the protection of the legitimate interests of the authorities in fulfilling tasks incumbent upon them in the public interest, which include the prosecution of administrative offences. And, as per the jurisprudence in VG Regensburg, Urteil vom 17. April 2019 – RN 3 K 19.267 –, juris Rn. 30, it is also permissable per Article 6(1)(e) GDPR.
The court also highlighted the importance of keeping a logbook as appropriate commercial practice. It was of the opinion that, although this may have been a nuisance, it was necessary and sufficient. Pursuant to Section 31a, para 1 of the German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations, the administrative authority may order a vehicle owner to keep a logbook for vehicles registered in their name.
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English Machine Translation of the Decision
The decision below is a machine translation of the German original. Please refer to the German original for more details.
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