Important: Update Your German Impressum (2024)
In mid-May 2024, the German legislator adjusted the German Telemediengesetz (Telemedia Act). For this reason, companies must update the legal information on their German websites, such as the Impressum. Find out exactly what you need to do in this article.
International companies that are translating their websites into German for the first time are often surprised that they must meet different legal requirements. Particularly in the area of data protection, German jurisprudence differs from that of other countries.
These legal requirements include…
the Impressum
the privacy policy and
the cookie policy.
In mid-May, the German legislator made changes to the German Telemediengesetz (Telemedia Act), and you must therefore update the three aforementioned legal details on your German website, such as your German Impressum.
The Most Important Changes for Your German Impressum
Due to the European Digital Services Act (DSA), Germany has adapted the following laws:
The Telemediengesetz (TMG) was renamed Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG).
The Telekommunikations-Telemedien-Datenschutzgesetz (TTDSG) was renamed to Telekommunikation-Digitale-Dienste-Datenschutz-Gesetz (TDDDG).
Steps to Update the Legal Information on Your German Website
1. Update Your German Impressum
If you write "Angaben gemäß § 5 TMG" or something similar in your German Impressum, you have the following two options:
You change § 5 TMG to § 5 DDG or
You remove this addition completely, as there is generally no obligation to mention the underlying law for information obligations. This way, you avoid future adjustments as well.*1
2. Update Your Privacy Policy
Revise your privacy information and update all references from TTDSG to TDDDG.
3. Update Your Cookie Policy
Ensure that your cookie policy no longer contains outdated references and complies with the new legal requirements. The regulation that explicit consent from users is required for setting and reading technically unnecessary cookies has been moved from § 25 TTDSG to § 25 TDDDG.
Further Reading
If you want to delve deeper into this subject, I recommend the German blog article "Update für dein Impressum" (also the source for *1).
Note: This article is no legal advice. Please consult a lawyer for legal questions.
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