As of: February 28, 2024, 2:40 p.m
By: Amy Walker
Comments
Press
Split
The federal government is struggling to find ways to inventory energy consumption in private homes.
The state would like to use thermal imaging - but is it allowed to?
Berlin – As soon as one problem has been ticked off when it comes to the heat transition, the next one comes through the door.
Although the eternal discussions about the Heating Act (Building Energy Act) and municipal heat planning came to a happy end last autumn, the task now is to implement the requirements.
Cities and municipalities that are supposed to take care of the heat transition in their territory now need to take stock.
And about whether the state can simply collect and publish data on the energy consumption of private individuals.
Recording and processing thermal images: What does data protection say?
In a document to the federal government, scientific staff are trying to clarify precisely these questions.
“As far as can be seen, the question of the conformity of thermal images of buildings with the GDPR
[General Data Protection Regulation, ed.
Red.]
has not been discussed in detail,” it says.
So: It is not clear whether it is permitted under data protection law to take thermal images of private buildings and include them in the public planning of heating networks.
However, it is also noted that thermal images can already be counted as “personal data” and are therefore subject to strict protection.
This is because when thermal images are taken, people or license plates are also recorded.
If these are visible in the pictures, then the government has a problem.
Then, according to the GDPR, you would have to obtain permission from these people before processing the images.
“Processing” also refers to the recording and storage of data – a fairly open definition.
However, according to the GDPR, there are three situations according to which the recording and processing of thermal images would be permitted, according to the federal government's scientific staff:
The data subjects have given their consent
The creation of the thermal image is necessary to fulfill a contract
The creation of the thermal image is necessary to protect “legitimate interests”.
“Legitimate interests include legal, actual, economic or non-material interests.”
Data protection or climate protection?
Government has to weigh things up
The third point is particularly interesting for the federal government.
However, the document goes on to say, fundamental rights must be weighed up against legitimate interests.
“Thermal images from the air or from the ground, which show how people are using buildings, could represent a particularly serious interference with the right to informational self-determination,” according to the expert assessment.
On the other hand, one could also argue that “thermal images are intended to show the energetic condition of houses in order to illustrate potential for energy savings and ultimately contribute to the energy and heat transition that is generally recognized as necessary by society.”
So that is the essential question to which the government must now find an answer: data protection or climate protection?
Which is more important – or is it possible to maintain both?
Municipalities are moving forward - and have solutions ready
Some municipalities are already pushing ahead, regardless of the fact that there are legal concerns.
This was also the case in two districts in North Rhine-Westphalia, in a district of Cologne and in the Mettmann district, where energy companies took thermal images of all residential buildings for the municipalities - both with a car and with an airplane.
Evaluations will take place until spring 2024 and should be made available to owners afterwards.
In Cologne this will even be chargeable, as
WDR
reports.
The heat absorption is carried out by the energy supplier Rheinenergie.
Thermal recordings of buildings recently caused an outcry in North Rhine-Westphalia.
© imageBROKER/Arnulf Hettrich/Imago
Owners in the Mettmann district are also being asked to pay.
As the Kommunal.de
portal
reports, an energy report should cost 40 to 50 euros per owner.
“The knowledge gained should not only benefit homeowners, but also the cities in the district.
In addition to detecting heat losses in buildings, the thermal images can also be used to inspect district heating pipes in the district.
“In addition, the results should provide cities with reliable support for their municipal heat planning,” says the Mettmann district website.
Sebastian Kock, head of the climate protection department in Mettmann, also addressed the topic of data protection directly
to
kommunal.de .
“We are already advertising the project very aggressively to the public in this early phase and are of course also developing a security concept to make the project compliant with data protection regulations.
To this end, the necessary technical and organizational measures are being implemented to ensure data protection and data security,” it said at the time.
The following security concepts have been developed:
Owners should have the opportunity to object
Energy reports for individual houses are not made public and are only passed on to owners in encrypted form
Only entire streets should be visible to the public - not individual houses
So could this be a solution for other municipalities?
What is also important in this context is whether the effort and return are worth it in the end.
The municipalities ultimately have to spend money on thermal imaging – 400,000 euros in the Mettmann district, according to reports.
This is another reason why the energy reports are not given out for free.
And even if property owners are then informed about their energy balance, in the end it is still up to them to decide what conclusions they will draw from it and whether renovation should be considered.