The TMG becomes the DDG and the TTDSG is renamed: you need a new legal notice and a new privacy policy

The German Digital Services Act (Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz, DDG) is primarily intended to supplement the EU Digital Services Act. The Digital Services Act is an EU regulation designed to reduce illegal content on the internet and sets out extensive obligations for online services. The DDG now governs how you have to implement these obligations in Germany.

Legal notice requirement: what changes

The DDG does not only concern the Digital Services Act; it also contains provisions that were previously found in other laws. It replaces both the Telemedia Act (Telemediengesetz, TMG) and the Network Enforcement Act (Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz, NetzDG).

One important change concerns the legal notice (Impressum) requirement. Until now, you had to include the legal notice on your website in accordance with § 5 TMG. The requirement is now governed by § 5 DDG in the Digital Services Act. At first that sounds like a big change, but don’t worry: the content stays exactly the same. Only the wording has been adjusted.

Privacy policy: what changes

The Telecommunications Telemedia Data Protection Act (TTDSG) has been renamed the Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG). This is merely an editorial change. Even so, it is important that you cite the correct legal bases in your privacy policy.

How to proceed:

Ideally, remove any statements worded “in accordance with § 5 TMG”.

Update your privacy policy.

If your privacy policy refers to the Telecommunications Telemedia Data Protection Act (TTDSG), you now need to change this and refer to the Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG) instead. The eRecht24 privacy policy generator, for example, has already been updated accordingly. Providers such as Trusted Shops can also bring your legal notice, terms and conditions and privacy policy up to date.

Please bear in mind that, as a web agency, we do not provide legal advice and only make recommendations.

Image source: photo by Zanyar Ibrahim on Unsplash