Cyberstalking: What to Do – Your Rights, Evidence, Help

Cyberstalking means someone follows you online, again and again, often for weeks or months. Messages from ever-new accounts, comments under every post, parcels you never ordered. Sometimes the person even knows where you are right now. What can you do about cyberstalking? This article explains when it is a criminal offence in Germany, how to keep an evidence log, how to protect your phone and when a court can order a contact ban. It gives general information, not an assessment of your case.

Are you afraid someone will hurt you? Call 110. Around the clock, you can reach the Telefonseelsorge (crisis line) on 0800 111 0 111 and the Hilfetelefon Gewalt gegen Frauen (helpline for women affected by violence) on 116 016.

What is cyberstalking?

The term does not appear in German law. It means stalking by digital means. Typical forms:

• constant messages, calls or comments, even after you have blocked someone, from ever-new accounts
• contact through your friends, family or colleagues
• orders, sign-ups or ads placed in your name
• monitoring of your location, chats or accounts, for example through a spying app or a hidden tracker
• spreading images of you or creating fake profiles in your name
• threats against you or people close to you

Often the person affected knows the stalker: from a past relationship, school, a club or an online game. But it can also be a complete stranger.

Is cyberstalking a criminal offence?

Yes, it can be an offence as stalking (Nachstellung) under Section 238 of the Criminal Code (StGB). It is an offence to stalk another person without authorisation, repeatedly, in a way that is capable of affecting how they live their life to a not insignificant degree. The law explicitly names digital forms:

• attempts at contact by phone, messenger, social networks or through third parties
• misuse of your data, for example to order things in your name or to get others to contact you
• threats against you or someone close to you
• spying on your data (Sections 202a to 202c StGB)
• spreading images of you
• spreading content that demeans you and falsely appears to come from you

The penalty is up to three years' imprisonment or a fine. In particularly serious cases, it is three months to five years. The law gives examples: the stalking lasts at least six months with many individual acts, the offender uses software designed for digital spying, or the offender is over 21 and the victim under 16.

Important: stalking is prosecuted ex officio. You do not need a request for prosecution (Strafantrag); a criminal complaint (Anzeige) is enough. Depending on the case, other offences may also apply, such as data espionage (Section 202a StGB), threats (Section 241 StGB) or insult (Section 185 StGB).

Planned: the government draft of a law against digital violence, adopted by the federal cabinet on 7 October 2026, provides, among other things, for a new Section 202e StGB: repeatedly or continuously monitoring a person's location or activities without authorisation by technical means, e.g. a GPS tracker, would become an offence. It is not in force. The Bundesrat and Bundestag still have to debate it.

How do you keep an evidence log for cyberstalking?

With cyberstalking, the pattern matters, not the single message. A log makes the pattern visible. Keep it in a spreadsheet or notebook the stalker cannot access. For each incident:

• Date and time
• Channel and sender: platform, profile name, phone number, link
• What happened: briefly in your own words, threats word for word
• Evidence: file name of the screenshot, photos of letters or parcels
• Witnesses: who else noticed it?
• Effects on you: changed your number, took a different route to school or work, deleted an account, slept badly

The effects belong in the log because the law asks whether the stalking is capable of affecting how you live your life.

Take screenshots with date, time and profile name before you block or report. Don't delete chats. If you export chats, do so without media. Store a copy somewhere the person cannot access. Details are in How to Secure Evidence of Online Hate. You don't have to save intimate images of yourself. Just note where they appear, and don't take screenshots of them.

Should you reply to the person?

Arguing often gives the person exactly the attention they want. If it is safe for you, you can say once, clearly and in writing, that you do not want any contact. After that, don't respond. That message belongs in your log. If you fear a reaction, talk to the police or a support service first.

How can you protect your phone and accounts?

• Get advice first, then make changes, if you suspect someone is monitoring your phone. Sudden changes may alert the person. Deleting a spying app can also destroy evidence.
• Change your passwords from a device only you use. A separate password for each account, plus two-factor authentication.
• Check linked devices and sharing: logged-in devices, location sharing, family sharing, shared cloud accounts.
• Watch out for trackers: many phones warn you when an unknown Bluetooth tracker is travelling with you. Take such warnings seriously.
• Reduce what is visible: set profiles to private, leave locations out of posts, check your follower lists.
• Block and report: every major platform has a function for this, usually behind the three dots on a profile. Secure the evidence first.

Can a court order a contact ban?

Yes, under the Protection Against Violence Act (Gewaltschutzgesetz). On your application, the court can order the person not to contact you, including by remote means such as phone or messenger, and not to arrange to meet you (Section 1 GewSchG). This can also apply if someone repeatedly follows you against your expressly stated will or harasses you unreasonably through such channels.

The family court at the local court (Amtsgericht) is responsible. In urgent cases, there is a fast-track decision, the interim order (einstweilige Anordnung, Section 214 of the Act on Proceedings in Family Matters, FamFG). Breaching such an order can be punished with up to two years' imprisonment or a fine (Section 4 GewSchG). A law firm or a support service can help with the application.

If the person does not yet know your address, you can protect it: apply to the residents' registration office for a block on disclosure (Auskunftssperre, Section 51 of the Federal Registration Act, BMG). The law explicitly mentions protection against unauthorised stalking.

Where can you get help with cyberstalking?

• Police: 110 in acute danger. Without acute danger, you can report online, see Report a Crime to the Police Online.
• Hilfetelefon Gewalt gegen Frauen: 116 016, around the clock, free and anonymous, in many languages, also for relatives. Online counselling at hilfetelefon.de.
• HateAid: support with digital violence at hateaid.org.
• Telefonseelsorge: 0800 111 0 111, around the clock, in German.
• Under 18: Nummer gegen Kummer on 116 111, Monday to Saturday from 2 pm to 8 pm, in German. Parents can call the parents' helpline (Elterntelefon) on 0800 111 0 550, Mon, Wed, Fri 9 am to 5 pm, Tue, Thu 9 am to 7 pm.

More on stalking by ex-partners and surveillance is in Digital Violence Against Women: Forms, Rights and Help.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Strafantrag for cyberstalking?

No. Stalking under Section 238 StGB is prosecuted ex officio. A criminal complaint (Anzeige) is enough.

How often does something have to happen for it to count as stalking?

The law requires the person to act repeatedly. It does not set a fixed number. What counts is the overall picture, and your log shows it.

What if I don't know who is behind the accounts?

File a report against persons unknown. The police and the public prosecutor's office can request data from platforms. How this works is explained in Who Is Behind the Account?

My ex is reading my chats. Is that a crime?

Anyone who gains unauthorised access to your data by overcoming an access protection can commit an offence under Section 202a StGB. Get advice before you change anything.

Report your case

You can report it through our form. Add a short summary of your log. If you say yes, your report goes automatically to a suitable cooperating law firm (Kooperationskanzlei) as soon as one is available. The legal assessment comes from the law firm, not from us. If there is no suitable firm right now, you get an email with other places to turn to straight away. Deadlines keep running: you can always file a request for prosecution (Strafantrag) with the police yourself.