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Privacy · Germany
Updated September 2026

🔐 A company leaked or misuses my data — who do I report it to?

Direct answer

Under the GDPR you can demand from any company what it holds on you, correction and deletion, and it must answer within a month. Write to the company's data protection officer first. If it ignores you, misuses your data or lost it in a breach, complain to Landesdatenschutzbehörde (bfdi.bund.de) — the data protection authority in Germany; it investigates and fines, free of charge. Identity misuse after a leak: also the police, Polizei — Onlinewache (polizei.de), and your bank.

Call firstLandesdatenschutzbehörde
Report toPolizei — Onlinewache
If that failsVerbraucherzentrale

🗣️ What to say

"Under Article 15 GDPR I request a copy of all personal data you hold on me, its sources and recipients, within one month. Under Article 17 I request deletion of [what]. Please confirm in writing."

🪜 Step by step

  1. Write to the companyAccess request (Art. 15), deletion (Art. 17) or objection (Art. 21). One month to answer; keep the date.
  2. Collect proofThe e-mails, the breach notification, screenshots of the misuse, unsolicited calls or mails that show your data was passed on.
  3. Complain to LandesdatenschutzbehördeOnline form. Attach your request and the non-answer. The authority contacts the company and can order and fine.
  4. Identity misuse: Polizei — OnlinewacheIf someone opened accounts or bought in your name after a leak, report it to the police and tell your bank.
  5. DamagesGDPR gives a right to compensation for material and non-material damage; consumer organisations run collective claims after large breaches.

📇 All contacts

LandesdatenschutzbehördeComplaints against companies, fines, ordersWhen the company does not answer within a month or misuses data🔗 www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Service/Anschriften/Laender/Laender-node.html
Polizei — OnlinewacheReport identity misuseWhen orders or accounts were made in your name🔗 www.polizei.de/Polizei/DE/Einrichtungen/Onlinewache/onlinewache_node.html
VerbraucherzentraleTemplate letters for access and deletion, collective actionsFor the request to the company and after large breaches🔗 www.verbraucherzentrale.de/wissen/digitale-welt/datenschutz

❓ Frequently asked

The company says it needs my data for "legitimate interest"

You can object (Art. 21); for direct marketing the objection is absolute — they must stop.

How long does the authority take?

Months, sometimes longer; but a complaint on file is what forces the company to answer, and fines follow patterns of complaints.

I keep getting spam calls

Register on the national do-not-call list where it exists, object to the caller in writing, and report the number to Landesdatenschutzbehörde.

📎 Sources

Last checked: 2026-09-26

🔎 Common searches

Recognise your own search? The answer above covers all of these.

  • “report data breach Germany”
  • “data protection authority Germany”
  • “GDPR complaint company”
  • “company won't delete my data”
  • “identity theft after data leak”

🧭 Is this still correct?

We check this information carefully, but phone numbers, websites and rules change — and sometimes we get something wrong. Spotted a mistake or a change? Let us know below.

🔗 Related questions

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