REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

398
Remembrance in Time
self-determination. 15 The informational self-determination is the right of the individual to
determine in principle whether his personal information is divulged and used. This
fundamental right is seen, since the so-called "census decision" (Volkszählungsurteil) in
1983 as an integral part of the general personal right (Article 2 section 1 in conjunction
with Article 1 section 1 GG). 16 Through the right of informational self-determination all
holders of fundamental rights are protected againstthe usage of one’s personal
information through others and have influence and knowledge about the usage of
personal information through others. The right to informational self-determination in
Article 2 section 1 in conjunction with Article 1 section 1 GG provides the basic
protection of all personal data. 17 A concerned person has, in principle, the power to
decide on a disclosure and use of his/her personal information. 18 He/She should be able to
overlook that information relating to him is known, because only then he/she can plan and
decide on his/her own uninhibited self-determination. 19 The peculiarity lies in the fact that
it is not the freedom of production and use of information which is a form of freedom of
behavior, but rather the fundamental right to protect a person against the handling of
information and data on and related to his/her person. 20 In the German literature the right
to informational self-determination is often referred to as the constitutional basis of data
protection law. 21 However, it is to consider that the right to informational selfdetermination
is merely a specification of the general personal right, developed with
regard to the risks associated with modern information technology. Therefore data
protection law has only a limited constitutional status. 22 A separate fundamental right was
not created. The right to informational self-determination is rather a kind of processing
barrier whose special design finds itself in the data protection rules. 23 In this sense, some
regional state law (Landesrecht) have laid down the right to informational selfdetermination
in normal law and used in their privacy policies (see for example § 1 of the
Data Protection Law of North-RhineWestphalia (Datenschutzgesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen
15
BVerfG, Urteil vom 15.12.1983 – 1 BvR 209/83, NJW 1984, 419.
16
BVerfG, Urteil vom 15.12.1983 – 1 BvR 209/83, NJW 1984, 419 = BVerfGE 65, 1.
17
On informational self-determination see Mester, Arbeitnehmerdatenschutz, p. 8 ff.
18
BVerfG, Urteil vom 15.12.1983 – 1 BvR 209/83, NJW 1984, 419 (422); confirmedby BVerfG,
Urteil vom 17.7.1984 – 2 BvE 11/15/83, BVerfGE 67, 100 (143); BVerfG, Beschluss vom
9.3.1988 – 1 BvL 49/86, NJW 1988, 2031; BVerfG, Beschluss vom 14.9.1989 –
2 BvR 1062/87, NJW 1990, 563; BVerfG, Beschluss vom 25.3.1992 – 1 BvR 1430/88,
NJW 1992, 1875; BVerfG, Beschluss vom 28.1.1992 – 1 BvR 1319/91, NJW 1992, 1379; the
protection is not lost through the knowledge of the possiblity of sb. Over hearing sth., see
BVerfG, Beschluss vom 19.12.1991 – 1 BvR 382/85, NZA 1992, 307; BVerfG, Beschluss vom
11.6.1991 – 1 BvR 239/90, CR 1992, 368; there are affirmative but also critical voices in the
literature Busch, DVBl 1984, p. 385; Hufen, JZ 1984, p. 1072 (1074); Meydam, DuD 1985,
p. 12 (16 f.).
19
BVerfG, Urteil vom 15.12.1983 – 1 BvR 209/83, NJW 1984, 419 (422).
20
Albers, Informationelle Selbstbestimmung, p. 87.
21
See Simitis, NJW 1984, p. 394 (399).
22
Gola/Wronka, Handbuchzum Arbeitnehmerdatenschutz, Rn. 80, on the content of the
fundamental rights developed by the judgements of the Federal Constitutional Court see
Heußner, RDV 1988, p. 7 (8); Simitis, NJW 1984, p. 394; or rather a new constitutional
approach, so at least Geigel, Haftpflichtprozess, 26. Auflage 2011, 23. Kapitel Rn. 17.
23
See Gola/Wronka, Handbuch zum Arbeitnehmerdatenschutz, Rn. 8; Däubler, Gläserne
Belegschaften?, Rn. 80; Heußner, ArbuR 1985, p. 309 (313); Gola, NJW 1988, p. 1637 (1638).