In its judgment of 26 April 2022 (docket no. 435 C 1051/21), the Kassel Local Court decided that sending a mere confirmation email as part of a double opt-in process (DOI) for subscribing to a newsletter is not an unauthorised advertising mailing. In this case, the defendant sent the plaintiff an email in which he would have had to confirm his email address in order to confirm his subscription to the newsletter. The plaintiff considered this to be a legal violation as he had not subscribed to the newsletter.
Conclusion: Unlike the Berlin Regional Court (decision of 19 September 2019, docket no. 15 O 348/19) or previously the Munich Court of Appeals (judgment of 27 September 2012, docket no. 29 U 1682/12), the Kassel Local Court does not consider a mere confirmation email to be an unacceptable nuisance. This decision bolsters the use of the DOI procedure by advertisers in the context of sending newsletters and also demonstrates that DOI is a practical way to prove consent for email advertising. It should be noted, however, that a confirmation email in the DOI process is considered to be an unacceptable nuisance if it contains advertising content.
IT and Data Protection Newsletter – Germany Summer 2022 edition | Perspectives | Reed Smith LLP
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