Hardly any other company has as much influence on how German consumers do business – or not – as the Schufa. Anyone who, according to the credit agency, is not creditworthy has usually already lost, whether with a mobile phone contract or the new dream apartment. But before the European Court of Justice, the revolution is brewing.
Schufa before the EU court: Expert sees black for scoring
Because the European Court of Justice is pending a judgment on several typical Schufa procedures. According to the Advocate General at the ECJ Priit Pikamäe, saves the German credit agency on the one hand far too long data in the event of personal bankruptcy.
But another problem is much more decisive: that Scoring Procedure In his opinion, the Schufa is fundamental not compatible with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). (Source: Mirror) – and may therefore be illegal.
With the Schufa scoring process, data would be automatically collected and processed, from which the Schufa score is calculated. According to the GDPR, however, no decisions are made automaticallyfrom which a legal effect can arise for data subjects.
But that is exactly the case with Schufa. This becomes a little clearer with an example: A negative Schufa score can have legal consequences for the persons concerned. In many cases it will have difficulty closing deals – whether justified or not. So the Schufa score is important for this and with it actually decide a machine over a human, which is incompatible with the GDPR.
In the event of bankruptcy: a long memory becomes a problem for Schufa
Another case, which is to be decided before the ECJ, is about the Duration of data storage at the Schufa. The credit agency draws data on private bankruptcies and the subsequent discharge of residual debt from publicly accessible registers.
Insolvency courts publish the relevant information, but it is deleted again after 6 months. The memory of the Schufa is longer: It can take up to three years until the long-established haircut also applies to the Schufa. It is one thing for those affected significant disadvantage.
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Both cases before the ECJ threaten the way Schufa works today in different ways. It is unclear whether the business model will continue to work without an automatic scoring process.
But nothing has been decided yet: the assessment of the Advocates General is not binding for the judges of the ECJ. According to Spiegel, however, the judges usually follow the advocates general. The verdict is expected in a few months.
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