In its judgment of 23 April 2025 (case no. 4 K 2873/23), the Bremen administrative court ruled that an energy supplier may continue to contact former customers for up to 24 months after the end of their contract for the purpose of winning them back as customers even through advertising channels that are not explicitly listed in the privacy policy.
In the case in question, the energy company had mentioned post-contractual communications by post in its privacy policy and justified this on the grounds of it legitimate marketing interests (art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). However, post-contractual sales communications by way of door-to-door advertising was not mentioned. The Bremen court still declared this permissible, however, as it held this change of the data processing purpose compatible with the original purpose pursuant to art. 6(4) GDPR.
Initially, the competent data protection authority had considered this data processing activity as a GDPR violation and prohibited the processing of data beyond a period of six months after the end of the contract. The Bremen administrative court now overturned the authority’s decision, arguing that customer data could even be used for direct marketing by post and for door-to-door marketing activities for up to 24 months after the end of the contract. According to the ruling, the decisive factor for the admissibility of the 24-month storage and usage period was, in particular, the argument that this period corresponded to the usual contract term of competing energy providers and that it only made sense to contact customers towards the end of this period.
Relevance for businesses: It is important to emphasise that the court’s findings are limited to the specific case of post-contractual advertising by post or through door-to-door marketing which were held to be compatible purposes within the meaning of art. 6(4) GDPR.
Notably, it cannot be inferred from the judgment that the energy supplier would also have been permitted to contact former customers by email or telephone. Unlike marketing by post or at the door, such communications to consumers may, in principle, only be based on prior express consent in accordance with the EU ePrivacy Directive. To contact consumers through these channels after the end of a contract, consent (or the possibility to rely on the ‘existing customers’ exception) is therefore essential.
(Dr. Lukas Mezger, UNVERZAGT Rechtsanwälte)