The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has overturned the appeal rulings concerning Schufa’s obligation to provide information about its scoring values, sending the cases back to the appellate court for further deliberation. The BGH announced on Wednesday that the previous findings by the appeals court were insufficient to justify convicting Schufa of providing information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The plaintiffs had sued Schufa, demanding information on how its score values are calculated and seeking reimbursement for out-of-court legal costs. While the trial courts had rejected the claims, the appellate court had partially ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. However, the Federal Court of Justice found that the prerequisites for automated decision-making-decisions that have legal effect or significantly impact individuals-had not been sufficiently examined in the previous proceedings.
The reopened appellate process will allow the plaintiffs the chance to remedy deficiencies in their initial complaints. The appellate court must then address the missing foundational findings regarding the claims and decide on the scope of the right to information.
The particular case involves Schufa’s older scoring system. Note that the credit bureau is scheduled to use a new, more transparent score for consumers starting in March 2026. The original scoring system is set to be phased out by the end of 2028.
