Service provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice
and the Federal Office of Justice ‒ www.gesetze-im-internet.de
protection of natural persons’ rights and freedoms with regard to the processing of
personal data;
4.
to promote the awareness of controllers and processors of their obligations
under this Act and other data protection legislation, including legislation adopted to
implement Directive (EU) 2016/680;
5.
upon request, to provide information to any data subject concerning the
exercise of their rights under this Act and other data protection legislation, including
legislation adopted to implement Directive (EU) 2016/680, and if appropriate, to
cooperate with the supervisory authorities in other Member States to that end;
6.
to handle complaints lodged by a data subject, or by a body, organization or
association in accordance with Article 55 of Directive (EU) 2016/680, and investigate, to
the extent appropriate, the subject matter of the complaint and inform the complainant of
the progress and the outcome of the investigation within a reasonable period, in particular
if further investigation or coordination with another supervisory authority is necessary;
7.
to cooperate with, including by sharing information, and provide mutual
assistance to other supervisory authorities, to ensure the consistency of application and
enforcement of this Act and other data protection legislation, including legislation adopted
to implement Directive (EU) 2016/680;
8.
to conduct investigations on the application of this Act and other data protection
legislation, including legislation adopted to implement Directive (EU) 2016/680, also on
the basis of information received from another supervisory authority or other public
authority;
9.
to monitor relevant developments, insofar as they have an impact on the
protection of personal data, in particular the development of information and
communication technologies and commercial practices;
10.
to provide advice on the processing operations referred to in Section 69; and
11.
to contribute to the activities of the European Data Protection Board.
Within the scope of Directive (EU) 2016/680, the Federal Commissioner shall also perform
the task pursuant to Section 60.
(2) To carry out the task listed in subsection 1, first sentence, no. 3, the Federal
Commissioner may, on request or at its own initiative, make recommendations to the
German Bundestag or one of its committees, the Bundesrat, the Federal Government, other
institutions and bodies and the public concerning all matters related to the protection of
personal data. At the request of the German Bundestag, one of its committees or of the
Federal Government, the Federal Commissioner shall also investigate data protection
matters and incidents at public bodies of the Federation.
(3) The Federal Commissioner shall facilitate the submission of complaints referred to in
subsection 1, first sentence, no. 6 by measures such as providing a complaint submission
form which can also be completed electronically, without excluding other means of
communication.
(4) The performance of the duties of the Federal Commissioner shall be free of charge for
the data subject. Where requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular
because of their repetitive character, the Federal Commissioner may charge a reasonable
fee based on administrative costs, or refuse to act on the request. The Federal
Commissioner shall bear the burden of demonstrating the manifestly unfounded or excessive
character of the request.
Section 15
Activity reports
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