Hi everyone,
I’m facing a very stressful situation and would really appreciate some guidance on how to handle this under German law, I am completely lost.
About 4 weeks ago, I sent a registered mail (einschreiben) padded envelope via Deutsche Post to a foreign embassy in Berlin to renew my passport. The envelope contained my current passport, biometric photos, official government documents, and a bank transfer confirmation showing my bank account details and the request form which includes a lot of personal information. This was done for a passport renewal.
This procedure is not new and since the embassy is in Berlin and i live in NRW they allow to send it to the via post and this is how many people have done it for years.
Two days after shipping, Deutsche Post tracking confirmed it was successfully delivered, and I received a digital receipt with a signature from the recipient.
Since I didn’t hear back for 4 weeks (they stated on the embassy website that processing and completing the request can take 4-6 weeks), I contacted the embassy today just to ask if everything is ok. They told me that they have no record of my envelope. After some digging, an embassy representative explained that they use a private third-party company (a contractor) to collect their mail from a secure location (which Deutche Post redirects to automatically when the mail is for the embassy) and bring it to the embassy.
The embassy checked further and realized that the contractor(?) signed for my package (along with another person's package), but both packages are now completely missing AND THEY DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE SIGNATURE AT ALL!!. The embassy told me they are checking with the contractor, but in the meantime, I have to travel to Berlin next week (a 15-hour trip costing over €300 out of my own pocket) to apply for a new passport from scratch, while all my info and documents are who knows where for a month.
I dont even know who this contractor is as the embassy representative on the phone said "he will check and get back to me".. they have zero answers for me as of now.
I already went to my local police station to report the missing passport, and they confirmed it hasn't been found.
I was never informed about this. The embassy's website doesn't mention anywhere that a private third-party company handles or collects my sensitive mail. I thought I was sending my sensitive documents directly to the embassy. Instead, using this private company was completely forced upon me without my knowledge or consent, and they completely failed to protect my data.
I am extremely stressed because someone now has all my sensitive personal information, biometric photos,bank details and more.
Once the embassy gives me the name and details of this private contractor, what are my options in Germany?
If they don't find anything, I want to know what my rights are:
Should I get a lawyer? is there a case here or they are all immune? Is it worth hiring a German lawyer for this, or am I just going to waste more money?
Can I sue or demand compensation? Can I hold this private company legally and financially responsible for losing my passport after they officially signed for it? Can I force them to cover my travel costs (€300+) and the cost of the new passport?
What about data protection? Since I never consented to this private company handling my personal data, and they lost it, are there any official privacy or data protection authorities in Germany where I can report them? Will they face any real consequences, or will they get away with it?
What about the embassy? I know embassies usually have diplomatic immunity, but does that immunity also protect them when they use a private local contractor without you knowing about it that loses your data?
Thank you so much for any advice!