Health insurance No data for advertising of children

Statutory health insurance companies may not use adolescent data for advertising without the consent of their parents or guardians. A cash register had organized a raffle at an event to lure new members. This procedure was prohibited by the Higher Regional Court in Hamm after a lawsuit.

11/11/2012

A common practice is to attract potential new customers with so-called sweepstakes. If a prospective card is filled out, the personal data will be transmitted to the operator. Similarly, a health insurance company did this at a job fair. However, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm has assessed such data collection as unlawful. Accordingly, health insurance companies may „Do not use personal data of minors from 15 years of age on for promotional purposes without the consent of a legal guardian“.

Such collecting was not legally compatible, decided the High Court Judge in the judgment published on Friday. According to the court, young people aged 15 or over can not be expected to have the necessary maturity to assess what it means to sign a declaration of consent for the storage of data, data usage and data collection for promotional purposes (Ref. I-4 U 85 / 12).

Health insurance collected data on job fair
In this specific case, a health insurance company had organized a competition aimed at minors at a job fair. The fair primarily introduces training, career and study opportunities and is thus aimed primarily at students. The name, address and date of birth were requested on the cards to be filled out. In addition, the participants had to sign a consent form for data storage. It said: „I agree that the health insurance company saves and uses data to inform and advise me by telephone, in writing, by e-mail or by SMS about the advantages of a B-membership and new offers of the B.“ If the children were under 15 years old, the parents had to sign as guardian. Minors over the age of 15 could fill out the card themselves. The consumer center North Rhine-Westphalia had sued the cash register for this advertising measure.

Lack of necessary maturity to grasp the consequences
The health insurance company took the legal view that a data collection for minors „not generally inadmissible“. It should also be noted, „that, depending on their age, minors have different levels of development, older minors may well appreciate the meaning of the statement. In this evaluation, it should be noted that minors over 15 years according to § 175 para. 1 sentence 3 SGB V could already choose their own health insurance.“

The OLG disagreed with this view. It just can not be assumed that minors from 15 years „basically have the necessary maturity to foresee the scope of the declaration of consent for data storage and data use for advertising purposes.“ Children and adolescents make a short-term decision about the disclosure of their data. A raffle and the choice of a box office can not be compared, so the Higher Regional Court. (Sb)

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Picture: Rainer Sturm