Can a German Practice or Law Firm Use an AI Phone Agent?

Short answer: possibly, but not without checking three things first. Section 203 of the Criminal Code punishes doctors, dentists, lawyers, tax advisers and other listed professions who disclose a secret entrusted to them, and punishes the professional who does not bind outside helpers to secrecy. Section 201 makes recording another person's spoken word without authorisation an offence. And the GDPR applies to every call. We have not verified whether our terms contain the secrecy obligation section 203 asks for, so ask for it in writing; it may rule the product out for you.

What follows is a plain-language reading of official texts on 25 October 2026 on gesetze-im-internet.de. Read the official text; this is not legal advice.

What does section 203 StGB require?

Section 203(1) protects secrets, including those of private life and trade, entrusted to or learned by a list of professions: doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists and other regulated health professions, psychologists, lawyers, patent attorneys, notaries, auditors and tax advisers, and some others, including staff of private health and life insurers. Disclosure without authorisation is punishable by up to one year's imprisonment or a fine. Sharing a secret with people who contribute to your work is allowed as far as necessary for their service (section 203(3)). But section 203(4) says the professional is also punishable if they did not make sure that such a contributor, and any further helper the contributor uses, was bound to secrecy. In practice: a phone service or an AI vendor that hears patient or client details needs to be bound in writing.

What should I ask a vendor?

• Will you sign a secrecy undertaking that covers the persons who handle my calls, and pass it on to anyone you use?
• Where is the data stored, and who else processes it?
• Is there a data-processing agreement under Article 28 of the GDPR?
• Can I switch off recording, and is it off by default?

Our answers: recording is off by default and a switch per agent; we support region deployments for enterprise customers; calls are also processed partly in other countries, with speech recognition in the EU and the voice and the language model in the US, under transfer safeguards. We have not verified whether our terms contain a section 203 undertaking, so request one before patient or client calls go near the agent.

What does section 201 StGB say about recording?

Anyone who, without authorisation, records another person's non-public spoken word on a sound recording, or uses or makes available such a recording, faces up to three years' imprisonment or a fine. The practical rule: if you record, tell the caller at the start, say why, and give them the chance to end the call or object. The agent's opening line is yours to write, so it can carry that sentence. A transcript and outcome of every call are kept without a recording, so ask whether you need the audio at all.

What can the agent safely do for a practice?

The less sensitive detail the agent asks for, the less there is to protect. Write that into its instructions.

Do I have to tell callers it is an AI?

Article 50(1) of the EU AI Act asks that people interacting directly with an AI system are told so, unless that is obvious from the circumstances. It applies from 2 August 2026, according to a law-firm summary published on 10 September 2026; read the Regulation itself. A sentence such as "this is the automated assistant of Praxis Dr. Becker" covers it for most callers.

How do I start safely?

1. Ask your professional chamber or your data-protection adviser what they require of a phone service.
2. Get the secrecy undertaking and the processing agreement in writing before you connect a real number.
3. Start with out-of-hours or lunchtime calls and appointment booking only.
4. Read the transcripts weekly for the first month.

See the Germany page, the healthcare voice AI page and the AI receptionist. If trades are closer to your business, read about German trade businesses.