Archive material concerning natural persons may only be used without the consent of the data subjects 10 years after their death. If their year of death cannot be established – or only with an unreasonable amount of time and effort – the term of protection shall expire 100 years after the birth of the data subject. If their birthday cannot be established either – or only with an unreasonable amount of time and effort – the term of protection shall expire 60 years after the creation of the documents in accordance with Section 11 (2) of the Federal Archives Act (BArchG).