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Eichenhofer, Johannes; Gusy, Christoph --- "Courts, privacy and data protection in Germany: Informational self-determination in the digital environment" [2017] ELECD 676; in Brkan, Maja; Psychogiopoulou, Evangelia (eds), "Courts, Privacy and Data Protection in the Digital Environment" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 101

Book Title: Courts, Privacy and Data Protection in the Digital Environment

Editor(s): Brkan, Maja; Psychogiopoulou, Evangelia

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784718701

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Courts, privacy and data protection in Germany: Informational self-determination in the digital environment

Author(s): Eichenhofer, Johannes; Gusy, Christoph

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

This chapter illustrates to what extent and on which legal basis the rights to privacy and data protection in German law have been shaped by German jurisprudence. In particular, the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has – by ‘inventing’ fundamental rights such as the right to informational self-determination (1983) or the ‘fundamental computer law’ (2008) – actually established the normative guidelines for the German legislator. While this sort of ‘judicial activism’ may be appreciated from a human rights standpoint, it also raises questions of courts’ democratic legitimation. Keywords: informational self-determination, secrecy of telecommunications, sanctity of home, Facebook, judicial activism, class action.