Learn Hardcore German: Wegen des Datenschutzes dürfen sensible Kundendaten nicht einfach per E‑Mail verschickt werden. - Because of data protection, sensitive customer data may not simply be sent by email.

In everyday spoken German, many people do say wegen dem Datenschutz (dative), but in standard written German, especially in formal contexts like this rule about customer data, the genitive is preferred and considered correct.

What exactly does Datenschutz mean here?

Datenschutz literally means data protection or data privacy.

It refers not just to the abstract idea of "protecting data," but to:

legal regulations (like GDPR),
internal company rules,
and general principles about how personal data must be handled.

So wegen des Datenschutzes is shorthand for:
Because of data‑protection laws and rules / for reasons of data privacy.

Why does the sentence start with Wegen des Datenschutzes and not with the subject?

German allows fairly flexible word order, as long as the finite verb stays in second position in a main clause.

The neutral word order would be:

Sensible Kundendaten dürfen wegen des Datenschutzes nicht einfach per E‑Mail verschickt werden.

By putting Wegen des Datenschutzes first, the speaker emphasizes the reason:

Wegen des Datenschutzes (for data‑protection reasons) dürfen sensible Kundendaten …

When you move that prepositional phrase to the front, German requires inversion: the verb (dürfen) still occupies the second position, so the subject (sensible Kundendaten) comes after the verb.

What does dürfen express here, and how is it different from können, müssen, or sollen?

dürfen expresses permission or prohibition:

dürfen = to be allowed to
nicht dürfen = to not be allowed to / to be forbidden

So:

dürfen … nicht verschickt werden = are not allowed to be sent.

Compared with other modals:

können = can / be able to (ability, possibility)
- können nicht verschickt werden would mean “cannot be sent” (e.g. technically impossible).
müssen = must / have to
- müssen geheim gehalten werden = must be kept secret.
sollen = should / are supposed to
- sollen nicht per E‑Mail verschickt werden = should not / are not supposed to be sent by email (weaker than dürfen nicht).

Here the idea is a rule/prohibition, so dürfen … nicht is the natural choice.

Why is it sensible Kundendaten? Isn’t sensible a false friend meaning “sensible / reasonable” in English?

This is a bit tricky. In everyday German:

sensibel ≈ sensitive (emotional, easily hurt, or technically delicate)
sinnvoll / vernünftig ≈ sensible (reasonable)

However, in legal and IT contexts, sensible Daten has become a fixed phrase meaning sensitive data (data that needs special protection). You will see both:

sensible Daten
sensible Kundendaten

Here sensible does not mean “reasonable customer data” but clearly “sensitive customer data” (e.g. health data, bank details, etc.). This is one of those cases where usage has drifted and the “false friend” behaves more like the English word in a specific technical context.

What case are sensible Kundendaten in, and how do the adjective endings work here?

In this sentence, sensible Kundendaten is the grammatical subject of the passive clause, so it’s in the nominative plural.

Base noun: die Kundendaten (plural only)
No article is used.
Adjective before a plural noun with no article takes the strong ending -e in the nominative (and accusative) plural.

So we get:

sensible Kundendaten (nom. plural)
Ich verarbeite sensible Kundendaten. (acc. plural, same form)

If there were a definite article, endings would change:

die sensiblen / sensiblen Kundendaten (with die, adjective takes -en in plural).

Why is it per E‑Mail instead of something like mit einer E‑Mail or über E‑Mail?

In German, per is a common preposition in formal and semi‑formal contexts meaning by / via / through in the sense of a means or channel of communication or transport.

Typical combinations:

per E‑Mail – by email
per Post – by post
per Telefon – by phone
per Überweisung – by bank transfer

So per E‑Mail = via email / by email.
You could say per Mail (common in business language) or more neutral per E‑Mail.

mit einer E‑Mail would sound odd here; it focuses on a specific email as an “instrument,” while per E‑Mail describes the general channel/method of sending.

Why do we say verschickt werden at the end? What construction is this?

This is a passive voice sentence with a modal verb.

Structure:

Modal verb (dürfen) – conjugated, in position 2.
At the end of the clause: Partizip II of the main verb + werden (infinitive) for the passive.

So:

Active:
- Man darf sensible Kundendaten nicht einfach per E‑Mail verschicken.
Passive with modal:
- Sensible Kundendaten dürfen nicht einfach per E‑Mail verschickt werden.

Pattern for passive + modal is:

dürfen / können / müssen + Partizip II + werden

e.g.
Die Dokumente dürfen nicht kopiert werden.
Die Pakete müssen heute geliefert werden.

What’s the difference between verschicken, schicken, and senden / versenden here?

All of these can mean “to send,” but there are nuances and preferences:

schicken – very general, everyday:
- Ich schicke dir eine E‑Mail.
verschicken – often used for sending things out (especially multiple items) or via post/online; here it fits very well:
- Newsletter verschicken, Pakete verschicken, E‑Mails verschicken
senden / versenden – somewhat more formal or technical:
- eine Nachricht senden, Massenmails versenden

In this sentence you could also say:

… dürfen … nicht einfach per E‑Mail gesendet / versendet werden.

All are grammatically correct. verschickt werden sounds natural and is very common for sending emails.

Why is it nicht einfach per E‑Mail verschickt and not einfach nicht per E‑Mail verschickt? Does the position of nicht matter?

Both orders are possible, but the focus shifts slightly.

nicht einfach per E‑Mail verschickt werden
→ Emphasizes that it must not be casually / just like that sent by email.
einfach here adds a nuance of “just / simply / casually”.
einfach nicht per E‑Mail verschickt werden
→ Would put the emphasis more on the pure negation “simply not by email”, and einfach sounds more like a sentence adverb meaning “simply / just”.

In the original, nicht einfach belongs together:
“They may not simply / just be sent by email” (i.e. that alone isn’t acceptable; stricter procedures are required).

What tense is this sentence in, and what kind of time is it talking about?

The sentence is in the present tense (dürfen is present).

In German, the present tense is often used to express:

general rules,
timeless facts, or
things that are true now and in general.

So the sentence means:

As a general rule (now and ongoing), sensitive customer data must not be sent by email.

It’s not about a specific one‑time event in the past or future, but about a standing policy or regulation.