Judging by several comments in this thread it I feel it's important to highlight the historical dimension of data protection in Germany. The roots of privay rig

Judging by several comments in this thread it I feel it's important to highlight the historical dimension of data protection in Germany. The roots of privay rights in post war Germany are mainly in the famous "census ruling" in 1983, where the constitutional court established the right of informational self determinatio, based on Art. 1 (human dignity) in combination with Art. 2 (personal freedom) German Constitution. One of the first acts of the Nazis in 1933 was in fact a census, which partly paved orhanizationally the way to an even greater collection of data and atrocities we're all well aware of. That data protection is a constitutional right has to be seen in this histocial context. If someone is interested here's a deepl translation of passage of the "census ruling": The right to informational self-determination would not be compatible with a social order and a legal order enabling it in which citizens can no longer know who knows what, when and on what occasion about them. Those who are uncertain whether deviant behaviour will be noted at any time and permanently stored, used or passed on as information will try not to attract attention through such behaviour. [...] This would not only impair the individual's chances of development, but also the common good, because self-determination is an elementary functional condition of a free democratic community based on the ability of its citizens to act and participate. It follows from this: Under the modern conditions of data processing, the free development of the personality presupposes the protection of the individual against unlimited collection, storage, use and disclosure of his or her personal data. This protection is therefore encompassed by the fundamental right of Article 2 (1) in conjunction with Article 1 (1) of the Basic Law. In this respect, the fundamental right guarantees the individual's right to determine for himself or herself the disclosure and use of his or her personal data.