Collection of signatures and data protection

The collection of signatures on the Internet is considered to be the processing of personal data that falls within the scope of the Data Protection Act. Therefore, all provisions of the Data Protection Act, such as the appropriate legal grounds for such processing and the need to provide information to the signatories, must be observed.

Collecting signatures on paper can also be considered as processing personal data that falls within the scope of the Data Protection Act, provided that the signatures are kept in an organized register.

Legal grounds for processing and principles of data protection laws

The processing of personal data requires a so-called consent. The consent that is particularly considered is the consent of the signatory.

In addition to the authorization, the processing must be legally permissible, including the fact that personal data is obtained for clearly defined, legitimate and objective purposes and is not further processed for other and incompatible purposes.

The data subject must also be informed about the processing, including the purpose of the processing and the means by which the data subject can share the signatures.