The German Telecommunications and Telemedia Data Protection Act (TTDSG)

The German Telecommunications and Telemedia Data Protection Act (TTDSG), or Telekommunikation-Telemedien-Datenschutzgesetz, adopted by the German Federal Cabinet, has been in force since December 1, 2021.

The German Telecommunications and Telemedia Data Protection Act merges the data protection provisions of the Telemedia Act (TMG) and the Telecommunications Act (TKG) into one.

The TTDSG applies not only to providers of number-based telecommunications services (i.e., telephone services) but also to providers of number-independent services (so-called over-the-top services such as webmail or messenger).

The TTDSG also applies to telemedia service providers. Telemedia is electronic information and communication, excluding telecommunications or telecommunications-based services (see above) or broadcasting. This includes websites and other online offers of goods/services, video-on-demand platforms, and simple advertising e-mails.

The geographical scope of the application corresponds to GDPR.

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