UWG (German Unfair Competition Act)
Also: Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb
Germany's Act against Unfair Competition, which, among much else, restricts unsolicited advertising and is the main reason cold B2B email into Germany generally requires prior consent.
Why it matters
For outbound into Germany, the UWG is the law that matters most alongside GDPR. It treats unsolicited advertising email as an unreasonable nuisance that generally needs the recipient's prior consent, business recipients included.
What good looks like
Compliant outbound into Germany respects the UWG's consent requirement for advertising email rather than relying on a GDPR basis alone, and treats warm, consented, or genuinely solicited contact as the safe path.
In the European market
This is Germany-specific and stricter than many other EU countries' reading. Do not assume a playbook that works for the UK or Ireland transfers to Germany.
Related terms
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