German Court Forces Jehovah's Witnesses to Honor GDPR Data Access Rights

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A Berlin court ruled that a Jehovah's Witnesses congregation unlawfully withheld personal data from a former member by citing religious confidentiality as justification. The ruling underscores that EU law — specifically GDPR Article 15 (Right of Access) — supersedes domestic religious privilege claims in most data access scenarios. Organizations, including religious bodies, cannot selectively apply GDPR exemptions without a clear, proportionate legal basis. This matters because individuals have a fundamental right to know what personal data is held about them and how it is being used, regardless of the type of organization processing it.

Tactical Insight

Immediate actions

Conduct an audit of all personal data held on former members or clients to ensure it is catalogued and retrievable upon request.
Establish a formal Subject Access Request (SAR) intake process with documented response timelines aligned to GDPR's 30-day requirement.

Policy & Governance improvements

Review and update any internal confidentiality or data-sharing policies to ensure they do not conflict with GDPR obligations, seeking legal counsel where exemptions are claimed.
Train staff and leadership on the limits of religious or professional privilege exemptions under GDPR, clarifying that EU law takes primacy.
Designate a Data Protection Officer (DPO) or equivalent responsible for handling data subject rights requests and regulatory correspondence.

Detection & Accountability measures

Implement logging of all data subject rights requests (access, erasure, rectification) to create an auditable trail of compliance activity.
Schedule annual GDPR compliance reviews to identify gaps between internal data-handling practices and evolving regulatory interpretations.