Germany

17 apps we list are based here

The laws that apply to a company based in Germany. Facts only, each with its source.

The laws, in short

Main privacy law
The EU's GDPR (2016) applies in Germany. The Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG, 2017) adds German rules.
Tech name: GDPR and BDSG · What's that? · Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) of 30 June 2017, official English translation
Who enforces it
State data protection authorities oversee private companies. The federal commissioner (BfDI) oversees federal bodies and telecom companies.
Tech name: Landesdatenschutzbehörden; BfDI (BDSG sections 9 and 40) · BDSG section 40: Aufsichtsbehörden der Länder
Do EU privacy rules cover it?Yes
Germany is in the EU, so the GDPR applies directly.
Tech name: GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) · What's that? · Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), EUR-Lex
Laws that let the government ask for data
The Article 10 Act (G 10) and the BND Act let authorities order telecom providers to hand over data and enable interception.
Tech name: G 10 section 2; BND Act (BNDG) section 25 · Artikel 10-Gesetz (G 10), section 2
Must companies keep connection data?
Still checking
Published intelligence-sharing agreements
We found no published intelligence-sharing agreement.

Last checked Nov 4, 2026. Laws change, so every fact is true as of the date we checked it, and we check again. How we check