CLUBHOUSE APP FACES WARNING FROM GERMAN CONSUMER ORGANIZATIONS

8.02.2021

Although it is only in the beta stage, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (“VZBV”) has warned and sent a letter to the social media app Clubhouse operator Alpha Exploration Co. for allegedly serious legal deficiencies according to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and EU Consumer Law.

The Executive Director of the VZBV announced the warning on Twitter and explained the main deficiencies that the Clubhouse app has. These can be summarized as below:

• According to the German Telemedia Act, the service providers in the e-commerce industry must publish a legal notice which gives information about them. The VZBV highlighted that only with this information consumers can check whether the provider is trustworthy and assert any contractual or tort claims. However, the Alpha Exploration Co. did not publish this legal notice. 
• The app’s terms of service are only available in English. Only German speaking consumers did not consider.
• Lastly, the VZBV is seriously concerned about the data protection part of the subject. The clubhouse operator claims the right to make extensive use of the contact information uploaded by users from the smartphone’s address books and use this information for advertising purposes.

If the company does not undertake to cease and desist from the business practices complained of and, in particular, does not issue a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause, the VZBV could take legal action against the Alpha Exploration Co. Also, the severe data protection violations mean that the company not only risks lawsuits from consumer protection groups but also sanctions from data protection authorities under the GDPR.

You can find the statement of The Executive Director of the VZBV (in German)  here.

Should you have any queries and/or remarks, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Kind regards,

Zumbul Attorneys-at-Law

info@zumbul.av.tr