The Berlin data protection authority ('the Berlin Commissioner') announced, on 16 June 2022, that it had updated its website with pages on the themes of topic of advertising and address trading.

In relation to advertising, the Berlin Commissioner specified the areas where personal data and advertising practices overlap, and highlighted that advertising companies may receive personal data either directly from data subjects or from address dealers, who collect personal data in directories, commercial registers, and other publications. In this regard, the Berlin Commissioner noted that data subjects should exercise caution when sharing their personal data. Furthermore, the guidance states the lawful basis upon which marketing companies may rely for processing personal data, as well as the relevant rights of which data subjects should be informed. Moreover, the guidance includes sample letters which data subjects may use to address companies and exercise their rights, as well as further information aimed at helping data subjects assert their rights in the context of advertising. 

Furthermore, within its page on address trading, the Berlin Commissioner stated that, even where an advertising company does not obtain addresses itself from data subjects, and uses address traders for such purposes, the traders are generally not permitted to do so without the consent of the data subjects. More specifically, the Berlin Commissioner added that companies that wish to pass on the addresses of their customers to third parties for advertising purposes must regularly obtain separate consent from the customers. In this regard, the Berlin Commissioner specified that companies transferring such address data cannot rely on legitimate interests as a legal basis, since the transfer of customer addresses for advertising purposes would not correspond to the general expectations of a data subject who, for example, orders a product from a specific company and subsequently receives advertising communications from various other organisations. 

You can read the post here, the advertising webpage here, and the address trading webpage here, all only available in German.