The data protection law is the subsection of the right, which is concerned with the data security.

Task of the data protection law is it to ensure the informational self-determination and legally protected secrets - in particular the telecommunications secret - and to create a reconciliation between the data security of the particular and entitled interests of the public and national and private data processors.

To the data protection law in the broadest sense belong therefore all laws, agreements, arrangements and judicial rulings, which serve the protection of the which out-arrange right to informational self-determination or which handling secrets and personal data regulate.

Supranational data protection law

United Nations

Already the general declaration of the human rights, announced on 10 December 1948 of the general assembly of the United Nations, measured meaning to the out of humans. In article 12 of the human right explanation it means: "„Nobody may arbitrary interferences into its private life, its family, its dwelling and its correspondence ["…] are suspended. Everyone has requirement on legal protection against such interferences or impairments. "“Although the explanation was legally not obligatory and is and the rights set in it are excluding deklaratorischer kind, can them among the Grundpfeilern supranational data protection law are ranked nevertheless.

In September 2005 demanded the 27. International conference of the assigned ones for the data security and the protection of the the United Nations up to out-arrange the rights to ("„privacy "“) contentwise further and on data security as human rights.

Council of Europe

Not least of all because of the announced briefly before also the 1950 signed and 1953 contained into force stepped European human right convention of the Council of Europe a regulation to the data security - even if the term were at that time not yet common. In accordance with article 8 paragraph 1 of the European human right convention has "„everyone [...] requirement on attention of its private and family life, its dwelling and its correspondence "“. This - the one which can be understood - sentence rather deklaratorisch and by program is this very day valid; in Germany it is located to a Federal law in rank directly.

After the electronic data processing and thus the data security gained more into the 1970er years ever significance, the Council of Europe prepared its own convention to the data security, which was agreed upon 1981 as convention for the protection of humans with the automatic processing of personal data. The European data security convention, how the convention was colloquially called, came into force 1985. By the convention you commit ourselves joined states to consider during the automated data processing determined elementary data security principles and to intersperse these in the own territory also opposite third.

OECD

The organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) formulated 1980 guidelines for the protection of the personality range and the transnational traffic of personal data. The guidelines are to facilitate in particular transnational data exchange. They represent however only noncommittal recommendations and can meanwhile also as contentwise outdated be considered. The OECD recommendations do not have practical meaning.

European community and European union

The data protection law of the European community stands primarily under the thought of the creation and stabilization of the common European domestic market. Different national data protection acts are regarded thereby as possible barriers to trade.

The advice of the European union and the European parliament issued therefore 1995 the guideline 95/46/EG for the protection of natural persons with the processing of personal data and to the free data traffic (data security guideline), which the data security level should harmonize within the European marketing area. The German Federal law giver did not have it with the conversion of this guideline particularly hasty: Only 2001, six years after the entry into force of the Datenschutzrichlinie, were thus adapted Federal Law for Data Protection to the requirements of the guideline.

The data security guideline was supplemented 1997 by the guideline 97/66/EG over the processing of personal data and the protection of the within the range of telecommunications (telecommunications data security guideline). The ISDN guideline, how the guideline 97/66/EG was colloquially also called, no long life span had granted. The estimating technical developments in telecommunications, in particular the spreading of mobile telephones and Internet entrances as well as increasing E-Mail communication required already soon a complete revision of the guideline.

Therefore European parliament and the advice issued that in the year 2002 the guideline 2002/58/EG over the processing of personal data and the protection of the in electronic communication, which replaced the telecommunications data security guideline.

In the year 2000 the state and head of the government of the European Union member states proclaimed the Charter of the fundamental rights of the European union. Article 7 of the Charter ensures "„the right on attention of her private and family life, their dwelling as well as their communication to each person "“. Article 8 of the Charter sets beyond that a right to protection of personal data. The data security was recognized thereby on level of the European union expressly as fundamental right. At present are however neither the European Union fundamental right Charter nor the European condition legally obligatorily. They can serve however as assistance with the interpretation of the remaining European Union data security regulations.

Practical meaning has however the Safe Harbor agreement agreed upon between the European union and the United States of America. It permits the transfer of personal data from the territory to the European Union into that of the USA, if the acceptor of data fulfills certain data security criteria. From this possibility among other things Microsoft and Amazon.de make use.

Not to the data protection law in the actual sense the 2006 belong into force stepped guideline over externally stored data storage. This guideline obligates the European Union member states to let data, which are produced or processed during the supply of publicly accessible electronic communication services, on supply store. It can be regarded therefore rather as anti-data protection law.

National data protection law

Germany

The German data protection law is determined considerably by the census judgement Federal Constitutional Court of 1983. For the first time the fundamental right on informational self-determination, recognized in the census judgement, and the detailed defaults, which the Federal Constitutional Court imposed upon to the legislator concerning the restrictions of this fundamental right, settled in all legal regulations to the data security.

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949 contains important data security-legal regulations with the fundamental right on keeping of the letter, post office and Fernmeldegeheimnises. Laws, which regulate expressly the protection of personal data in the data processing, were however only issued into the 1970er years.

The probably most well-known German set of rules to the data security is the Federal Law for Data Protection, which already stepped 1978 into force. It applies to federal authorities and to the private sector. The 16 German Lands of the Federal Republic have own national data protection acts, which apply to the respective Land authorities and the municipalities.

Both the Federal Law for Data Protection and the national data protection acts apply only, as far as for concrete circumstances no more special data protection act exists. So for example Internet Provider must, if they process personal data of their customers, who consider special data security regulations of the telecommunications law. If the Internet Provider processes against it personnel data of its own persons employed, - there existed in Germany no employee data protection act - the general Federal Law for Data Protection applies. (See also: Employee data security.)

The regulations embodied in the social laws have substantial practical meaning for the protection of the Sozialgeheimnises. Apart from the general regulations to the social data security, in 2. Chapters social legislation of the X are fixed, exist also in all other books of the social legislation detailed data security regulations.

Data security in telecommunications is ensured in particular by the telecommunications law and the Teledienstedatenschutzgesetz. To Postdienstleister the postal service enterprise data security regulation applies.

Austria

In Austria a comparable set of rules exists to the German Federal Law for Data Protection with the Federal law over the protection of personal data (data protection act 2000).

Switzerland

In Switzerland the data security is regulated since 1993 in the Federal law over the data security.

Articles in category "Data protection law"

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