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Data Protection in the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union: An Unequal Playing Field
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 March 2019
Abstract
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With the negotiation of its Data Protection Regulation, the European Union seeks to reform an outdated set of laws that has failed to address the evolving data protection challenges inherent in new technologies such as social networks, e-commerce, cloud computing, and location-based services. This article addresses the forthcoming Data Protection Regulation as well as the current state of data protection law in the EU, with a particular focus on Germany. The first part of the article examines Germany's robust data protection framework and the EU's existing authority. The article then raises key issues related to data protection in Germany and the EU—namely, discrepancies in data protection standards and enforcement among EU Member States—as illustrated by recent, high profile cases involving household names like Facebook, Apple, Google, and Amazon. Through this analysis, the article attempts to explain how and why companies doing business in Germany, but established in other EU Member States, are subject to less stringent data protection standards than German companies. Lastly, the article synthesizes the issues in debate with regard to the draft Data Protection Regulation and offers perspectives on what the Regulation could and should mean for data protection in the EU.
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References
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225 Data Protection Regulation, supra note 9, at art. 17.Google Scholar
226 See id. at art. 17.1.Google Scholar
227 See id. at art. 17.3(a).Google Scholar
228 See id. at art. 17.3(b).Google Scholar
229 See id. at art. 17.3(c).Google Scholar
230 See id. at art. 17.3(d).Google Scholar
231 See id. at art. 4.8 & 7.Google Scholar
232 See id. at art. 4.8.Google Scholar
233 See id. at art. 7.3.Google Scholar
234 See id. at art. 7.4.Google Scholar
235 See id. at art. 19.2.Google Scholar
236 Id. Google Scholar
237 See id. at art. 20.1.Google Scholar
238 Id. Google Scholar
239 See id. at art. 20.2(a).Google Scholar
240 See id. at art. 20.2(b).Google Scholar
241 See id. at art. 20.2(c).Google Scholar
242 See id. § 3.4.7.2 of the Explanatory Memorandum.Google Scholar
243 Id. at art. 57.Google Scholar
244 See id. at art. 64.Google Scholar
245 See id. at arts. 58.3–.4.Google Scholar
246 See id. at art. 58.7.Google Scholar
247 See id. at art. 59.1.Google Scholar
248 See id. at arts. 58.8, 59.2, 59.4.Google Scholar
249 See id. at art. 60.Google Scholar
250 See id. at arts. 3.1, 4.13.Google Scholar
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252 Data Protection Regulation, supra note 9, at art. 3.2.Google Scholar
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256 See supra note 224.Google Scholar
257 O'Connor, John, EU Data Protection Vote Delayed, Lexology, May 8, 2013, http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=781c955a-3fbf-40ba-967a-14cbaf7dfb35; see also Press Release, Libe Committee Vote Backs New EU Data Protection Rules (Oct. 22, 2013), available at http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13–923_en.htm.Google Scholar
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260 Id.; see also, Grande, Allison, EU Regulators Urge Swift Action on Data Protection Reform, Law360, Dec. 4, 2013, http://www.law360.com/articles/493310/eu-regulators-urge-swift-action-on-data-protection-reform.Google Scholar
261 See supra notes 179180 and accompanying text.Google Scholar
262 See O'Carroll, supra note 200.Google Scholar
263 See supra notes 253254 and accompanying text.Google Scholar
264 Data Protection Regulation, supra note 9, at arts. 4.8 & 7.Google Scholar
265 BDSG, supra note 2, §§ 4.1 & 4(a).1.Google Scholar
266 Compare Data Protection Regulation, supra note 9, at arts. 31 & 32, with Amendment to E-Privacy Directive, supra note 147, at art. 4.3.Google Scholar
267 E-Privacy Directive, supra note 147, at Recital 57.Google Scholar
268 Id. Google Scholar
269 See supra notes 159164 and accompanying text.Google Scholar
270 See supra Part C.II.Google Scholar
271 See Hon, W. Kuan, et. al, supra note 104.Google Scholar
272 See supra notes 248251 and accompanying text.Google Scholar
273 Data Protection Regulation, supra note 9, at art. 60.Google Scholar
274 See supra Part D.Google Scholar
275 See DeSimone, Christian, Pitting Karlsruhe Against Luxembourg? German Data Protection and the Contested Implementation of the EU Data Retention Directive, 11 German L.J. 291, 291 (2010) (noting the “evolving corpus of [data protection] law [in Germany] exhibits a singularly-German mindfulness of the historical significance of abrogating fundamental rights within constitutional democracy”).Google Scholar
276 In a Eurobarometer survey, 69% of Germans questioned think their “specific approval” should be sought before any collection and processing of personal data. Attitudes on Data Protection and Electronic Identity in the European Union, European Commission: Eurobarometer 74.3, Jun. 2011, at 3, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_359_fact_de_en.pdf. According to that same survey, only 34% of Germans trust online shops will protect their personal data. Id. Google Scholar
277 Over 70% of Germans shop online. Id. at 1.Google Scholar
278 According to a Berlin study, German consumers will choose companies that offer more protection of their data privacy over companies that offer less protection when there is little or no price differential, but the discrepancy between the companies' privacy policies must be clear. Dr. Nicola Jentzsch et al., Study on Monetising Privacy – An Economic Model for Pricing Personal Information (2012), available at http://www.enisa.europa.eu/activities/identity-and-trust/library/deliverables/monetising-privacy (“If there are little to no differences in the prices offered by service providers on homogeneous goods, a competitor who has a reduced data requirement (privacy- friendly service provider) can obtain a competitive advantage as long as this type of differentiation is obvious to the consumer”).Google Scholar
279 For example, a successful movement to challenge the 2007 implementation of the EU Data Retention Directive in Germany “consisted of highly-networked civil and digital rights activists, ideologically-heterogeneous students and academics, and German or European NGOs.” Desimone, supra note 275, at 306.Google Scholar
280 The use of media helped raise awareness for the anti-EU Data Retention Directive movement: “The success of German groups in raising public awareness of a highly-technical topic, publicizing their rarely-at-odds messages, and organizing successful demonstrations and legal actions can be attributed to an extraordinarily effective use of new networked media to convey resources, ideas, and people around Germany and Europe.” Id. at 307.Google Scholar
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