Kilian, Wolfgang --- "Germany" [2008] ELECD 399; in Rule, B. James (ed), "Global Privacy Protection" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: Global Privacy Protection

Editor(s): Rule, B. James

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848440630

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Germany

Author(s): Kilian, Wolfgang

Number of pages: 27

Extract:

3. Germany
Wolfgang Kilian
For post-war Germans, sensitivity to the need to protect personal information
came easily. Recent historical experience of totalitarian government combined
with long-standing intellectual and cultural themes made Germany one of the
first countries in the world to adopt privacy protection codes. To this day,
concern over treatment of personal information remains acute among
Germans. The growing familiarity with information technology among the
German population facilitates the understanding of the concept among citizens
and consumers. Public awareness of the data protection issue is high.
Early evidence of these sensitivities came in the unexpectedly indignant
public response to the planned census of 1983. Under a new federal statute
(Census Act of 1983), every family was to respond to an extensive question-
naire requiring personal data on matters ranging from living conditions to
education to leisure activities. Data so provided were to be used both for
government planning and for population registers used by local government
administrators.
As it turned out, these demands on Germans' privacy triggered stiff resis-
tance ­ from left-wing activists, consumer protection groups, civil libertarians
and others. Many called for civil disobedience; media coverage was intense.
In a nearly unprecedented action, privacy advocates filed a complaint with
the Federal Supreme Constitutional Court, demanding suspension of the
Census plans. To widespread surprise, they won. The Court declared the
Census statute partially unconstitutional (BVerfGE 65, 1 ­ Census Case). The
immediate result was to reduce some 40 million questionnaire forms to a heap
of worthless waste ...