According to German law every website who is owned and operated by a person or entity in Germany needs an imprint with full name, address, email address and phone number… (of the owner 2 owning entity)…
a) This is only for commercial websites although what counts as commercial is vague and probably not something you want to argue in court so it's safer to just add it unless you are absolutely sure.
b) You need a valid postal address where you can receive mail but this doesn't have to be your home address. A PO box is fine.
c) You don't need to have a phone number in your Imprint.
The base requirement of commercial operations having to have valid contact information (that can be used for legal communication) is pretty sensible. The details could be a bit friendlier towards individuals running purely personal sites.
So this in practice is a massive push to centralization: if you have a Facebook page or Instagram account, you don't need to risk that level of privacy compromise.
account42|11 months ago
b) You need a valid postal address where you can receive mail but this doesn't have to be your home address. A PO box is fine.
c) You don't need to have a phone number in your Imprint.
The base requirement of commercial operations having to have valid contact information (that can be used for legal communication) is pretty sensible. The details could be a bit friendlier towards individuals running purely personal sites.
pjc50|11 months ago
kuschku|11 months ago
A freelancer's sites are also considered commercial use.
And such sites without imprint have been fined & taken down.
If you engage in commerce, you need to publish enough contact information that others could serve you a court summons.