Man as a mere number – and the memories of the person code from the GDR era?

The majority of people still associate images of dusty file folders, endless records and archives full of paper-bound documents with the term “administration”. This is how the administration worked for centuries and has drawn its legitimacy from exactly this way of working.46 But this description no longer applies to modern administrative practiceto the full extent. Nowadays it is no longer enough to just put injunctions, notes or other documents “on paper”. Rather, the focus is increasingly on the question of how administrative processes can be efficiently designed using modern electronic data processing. The British government is pursuing the goal of eighty percent of government services as wellelectronically and similar ambitions can be observed in numerous other industrialized countries.

The change to electronic administration: eGovernment

For the protection of personal data and the privacy of citizens, the change towards electronic management brings with it profound changes. Because the administration not only has more and more comprehensive information about the individual, but can also retrieve, link and check this data in seconds. This fundamental change fromTraditional administrative processes towards digital processes are summarized under the term “egovernment”. For years there has hardly been a modernization paper on the administrative organization in which this term does not appear. It stands for “Electronic Government”, which literally means “electronic governance”. In fact, eGovernment, however, includes far more: It describes theComprehensive digitization of all administrative actions – i.e. both the exchange of information between authorities and the communication of state authorities with citizens and companies. The spectrum ranges from the provision of opening hours to the online order of an organic waste container and the electronic issuance of a resident parking permit. Even the registration forDog tax is now possible online in some municipalities.

Opportunities and challenges of eGovernment

The promising message is: eGovernment is to make administration faster, easier, more efficient and more transparent. Nevertheless, you sometimes get an uneasy feeling when you think that administrative concerns should no longer be processed and evaluated by people, but by machines. Data protection law tries to counteract this problem byDefines that decisions in which personality traits are assessed must never be made exclusively automatically – a person must always take responsibility. However, it can be doubted whether this “ban on automated individual decisions” actually has its full effect everywhere, since many computer-generated decisions are only formallybe countersigned to human clerks without actually checking the content.

The term “customer orientation” and human dignity

In this context, “customer orientation” is often spoken of, with the administration seeing itself as a service provider. It is undisputed, of course, that citizens need support in their contact with the state, that applications should be processed quickly and questions must be answered quickly and correctly. but this concept of roles describes the relationship between citizens andstate really apt? Compared to the presentation of the 19th century in the authorities state, where citizens were considered supplicants, customer orientation undoubtedly represents progress. Nevertheless, the term “customer” often misleads. According to the human image of the Basic Law – as well as in the constitutions of all modern democracies (which, by the way, is never “customer” – isThe state obliges to protect human dignity.

Fundamental Rights and the People as Sovereign

Citizens have inalienable fundamental rights, which must be recognized and protected by state institutions. Last but not least, it must not be forgotten: In their entirety, the citizens are the people – the actual sovereign from which all state power emanates.

Automation and data collection in administration

Automating entire administrative processes leads to ever larger and quickly retrievable data collections. Information, for example, when applying for construction or applying for social services is available digitally at all times and can theoretically be compared with data from other processes or by other government agencies. These technical possibilities awaken a growingInterested in using existing information for other purposes.

Linking and profile building: opportunities and risks

Data from different administrative areas is increasingly linked and brought together into comprehensive profiles of those affected. With paper-based files, this was practically impossible due to the enormous amount of time. However, the dangers of an omniscient administration for informational self-determination were recognized early on: As early as 1969, thatFederal Constitutional Court clear that a comprehensive registration and cataloging of personality by merging individual life and personal data for the creation of personality profiles is not permitted. Accordingly, the introduction of a uniform personal number plate (PKZ) with which various state datasets would be brought together would also be illegal.

Problems of the area-specific personal IDs

From a data protection point of view, the allocation of area-specific personal IDs can also be problematic if these numbers are ultimately used in different procedures. For example, in Italy, the “Codice Fiscale” introduced for tax purposes a few years ago is now practically used as a general personal number plate: With almost every contactThis tax number must be given with state or municipal authorities – it is even required for mobile phone contracts or when paying for electricity or water bills. Therefore, the introduction of a uniform tax number, which is awarded from the time of birth and accompanies everyone for life, is questionable.

Introduction of the tax ID in Germany

However, the legislature did not let this criticism deter itself and decided to introduce the tax ID in 2003. Since July 1, 2007, corresponding data from the municipal registers have been merged; By the end of 2008, this first complete numbering of the German population should be completed.

Challenges of electronic identification

The well-known problem of identifying citizens with government agencies has been given a completely new dimension through electronic contact: How can an online application ensure that the person specified is actually acting? How can you guarantee that data was not manipulated by third parties? The increasing cases of fraud by fakeOr stolen electronic identity data (“identity theft”), which can cause great damage, impressively illustrate the growing importance of secure electronic identity verification or “authentification”.

Constitutional requirements for secure identity systems

In view of the clear constitutional requirements, the question of a secure identity determination when contact with the administration must not simply be solved by a nationwide numbering of the population. Privacy-friendly identity management must ensure secure authentication procedures while at the same time improper use of personal dataprevent. It is particularly important that there is no linking of data from different places for different purposes.

Example Austria: A privacy-friendly system

Experiences from our southern neighboring country Austria impressively show: Such a system is feasible! A project was started there a few years ago in which citizens can authenticate themselves to authorities using electronic signatures. They receive different area-specific identities – depending on whether social assistance is requested, taxescalculated or in private business transactions goods to be ordered on the Internet.

Management of electronic identities in Austria

Citizens are each recorded with different identification numbers in the files of the authorities and companies. These electronic identities are only combined in the case of the case and exclusively with the consent of the independent Austrian Data Protection Commission. This manages the key to decrypt the area-specific identity numbers.

Benefits of a Privacy-Friendly Identity Management

It would be extremely worthwhile – taking these Austrian experiences into account – also introducing a data protection-friendly identity management in Germany! Such a solution would be preferable to the supposedly simpler but constitutionally questionable way: namely linking all administrative data using a uniform general personal ID.