1. Controller and Data Protection Officer

Responsibility for the processing of personal data within the framework of the counselling hotline lies with the

Federal Ministry of Justice (“BMJ“),
Mohrenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin,
Email: poststelle@bmjv.bund.de

If you have specific questions about your data, please contact the

Responsible Data Protection Officer,
Federal Ministry of Justice
Mohrenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 18 580 - 0
Email: datenschutz@bmjv.bund.de

2. Purposes of data processing

In the operation of the counselling hotline, the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection processes personal data for the following purposes:

• Psychosocial assistance and stabilisation over the telephone
• Referral to contact persons to provide support to those affected by terrorist offences
• Networking of contact persons at the authorities responsible for those affected by terrorist offences

In the operation of the counselling hotline, the specific purpose of the data processing, the legal basis for the data processing and the categories of personal data are communicated to the callers, the persons concerned and the contact persons. In addition, it is communicated that further data protection information is available on this website.

The Centre for Trauma and Conflict Management (Zentrum für Trauma- und Konfliktmanagement GmbH, ZTK), represented by managing director Thomas Weber, Clemensstr. 5 – 7, 50676 Cologne, has been commissioned as the processor of personal data. The psychosocial support provided by the processor over the telephone is carried out exclusively by individuals who are subject to a legal obligation of confidentiality.

3. Type of personal data

The following types of personal data are processed by:

a) Callers / persons affected by a terrorist offence

Communication data (date, time and duration of a call; telephone number); date of contact (name); connection to the attack (e.g. injured person, relative, eyewitness); concern of the caller.

Where necessary in order to achieve the purpose of the hotline in the interests of those affected, special categories of personal data may be processed, including health data, data on sexual orientation, data on ethnic background or data on religious and philosophical beliefs..

b) Contact persons at the authorities responsible for those affected by terrorist offences

Contact details (name, address of the responsible authority, telephone number, e-mail address)

4. Legal basis for data processing

Personal data is processed only on the basis of informed consent under Article 6 para. 1 letter a of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

5. Categories of recipient

Personal data will only be transferred to third parties if consent for such transfer has been provided and the employees of the processor have been released from their obligation of confidentiality.

Data may be transferred to government institutions (e.g. the controller or victims’ commissioner and the central contact points in the Länder) and non-government institutions (e.g. victim support institutions, outpatient trauma centres) that can provide or arrange financial, practical, procedural or psychosocial support in the event of a specific attack.

6. Retention period

Electronically stored personal data are deleted by the processor after completion of a measure (e.g. referral, psychological stabilisation). Personal data stored by the processor in paper form are kept in a locked file for three years and then destroyed in accordance with data protection regulations. In all other respects, the storage of personal data complies with the Guidelines for Handling and Managing Records in the Federal Ministries (Richtlinie für das Bearbeiten und Verwalten von Schriftgut in Bundesministerien).

7. Your rights with regard to the processing of personal data within the framework of the counselling hotline

The BMJ is responsible for the processing of personal data. The following rights are afforded to you under the GDPR and can therefore be asserted against the BMJ:

a) Right of access - Article 15 GDPR
The right of access gives you comprehensive access to data concerning you and to several other key criteria, such as the purpose of processing or the duration of storage. Exceptions to this right are governed by section 34 BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act).

b) Right to rectification - Article 16 GDPR
The right to rectification enables you to have inaccurate personal data concerning you corrected.

c) Right to erasure - Article 17 GDPR
The right to erasure enables you to have the controller erase data. However, your personal data may only be erased if they are no longer needed, if they were processed unlawfully or if consent to their processing has been withdrawn. Exceptions to this right are governed by section 35 BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act).

d) Right to restriction of processing - Article 18 GDPR
The right to restriction of processing enables you to temporarily prevent further processing of your personal data. Such restrictions mainly occur during the examination period of other rights you are exercising.

e) Right to data portability - Article 20 GDPR
The right to data portability enables you to receive your personal data from the controller in a commonly used and machine-readable format.

f) Right to object - Article 21 GDPR
The right to object enables you to object in a particular situation to further processing of your personal data, if such processing is justified by the performance of public responsibilities or by public or private interests. According to section 36 BDSG, this right does not apply if the respective public body is obliged by law to process the data.

g) Right to withdraw consent
As the personal data are processed on the basis of your consent (Article 6 (1) letter a GDPR), you can withdraw this consent at any time with effect for the future – even for only part of the personal data processed. The lawfulness of the processing based on your provided consent remains unaffected until notification has been received that your consent has been withdrawn. Once the right of withdrawal has been exercised, the data processed on the basis of the withdrawn consent will be deleted.

You can send the withdrawal notification by post or by email to the

Federal Ministry of Justice (“BMJ”)
Mohrenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin,
Email: opferbeauftragter@bmjv.bund.de

or you can withdraw consent via telephone:

+ 49 (0) 30 18580 8050 or
+ 49 (0) 800 00 9546

8. Right to submit a complaint

You can submit a complaint regarding the BMJ’s processing of data to the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit), which is responsible for supervising the data protection activities of the federal authorities. The Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information can be contacted at the following address:

Der Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit
Graurheindorfer Str. 153, 53117 Bonn,
Email: poststelle@bfdi.bund.de