If a criminal complaint is filed, personal data must usually be provided so that the identity of the person filing the criminal complaint can be established with certainty. This also helps to better assess the credibility of the statement. If the person filing a criminal complaint is reluctant to give their personal details to the police (e.g. because they feel threatened), they should let the police know about this as soon as possible.

If a witness is concerned that he or she or others (e.g. family members) could be endangered by stating his/her place of residence, the address can be kept secret. Alternatively, persons filing a criminal complaint can provide another address at which they can be reached reliably, such as the address of their lawyer or of a victim support organisation. In particularly serious cases, the police can also provide an address. The place of residence is then not mentioned in the files.

Important: In order to ensure that their place of residence does not appear in the files at all, affected victims or witnesses should, if possible, inform the police of their feared endangerment as soon as they file the criminal complaint.

You can find further information about your rights as a witness here.

It is of course also possible to give information to the police as an “anonymous informant,” without providing personal data. But the evidentiary value of such information is lower, as the provision of personal data is very important, especially with regard to assessing the credibility of a statement. If someone gives information anonymously, the police are unable to ask them any additional questions to further clarify the facts. If anonymously provided information is not specific enough, it is possible that the public prosecutor’s office (which must be involved by the police) might conclude that there are insufficient grounds for an initial suspicion, and therefore decide not to initiate investigative proceedings.

You can find more information about when a public prosecutor’s office discontinues proceedings here.