The fundamental right to informal self-determination and the threatened right to access the files: erosion in the data age

The fundamental right to informal self-determination and the right to inspect the files once form central protective walls of individual autonomy and transparency in the democratic constitutional state. Originally conceived as a bulwark against state arbitrariness and intrusion, they ensure every citizen control over their personal information and access to officialadministrative action. But the reality of the digital age increasingly thwarts these principles and systematically undermines the protective function.

The lack of transparency of digital authorities: databases instead of file folders

With the mass digitization and the progressive networking of state databases, a new form of bureaucracy has emerged that is hardly controllable. A lot of information is no longer stored in classic files, but in highly complex, interlinked data pools. The official access options are constantly expanded without the individualkeeps an overview or can have an effective influence. The simple request for access to files becomes a farce, since essential data is scattered, encrypted or stored in special databases, to which the classic right of inspection is hardly sufficient.

Restriction and erosion of the right to control

Modern public authorities practice is designed to only grant selective access instead of open insight. Citizens encounter legal barriers in everyday life – from formalistic reasons for rejection to general references to confidentiality, data protection interests of third parties or investigative reasons. Even if there is evidence of a legitimate interest,The actual scope of the officially stored and processed information usually remains in the dark. The practical way of comprehend how, where and with whom your own data is processed disappears in the thicket of database structures and access regulations.

The unresolved challenge of data networking

With the networking of databases, the risks for informal self-determination are growing immeasurably. Information that was previously considered irrelevant and was only collected decentralized is given a completely new status through electronic processing. What the Federal Constitutional Court once formulated with its census judgment as a warning, fully advocated: itselfA single date can become a comprehensive personality profile in connection with other information and thus endanger the fundamental rights of the individual. The control of one’s own identity, life story and privacy has long since slipped away from digital bureaucracy.

Authority access without real: the fainting of those affected

The fundamental right to informal self-determination loses its real protective effect when authorities access networked systems without an announcement and without effective control. The citizen becomes a transparent subject, the decisions about which information are processed make database developers and administrative lawyers – no longer the people themselves. In hindsight, it’s hard to understandand even less influenceable what was saved. Questions lead to blanket references to data protection laws or interpretive administrative regulations, real transparency is rare.

The future of self-determination and the struggle for one’s own identity

The reminder formulated in the census judgment to attach a completely new meaning to any banal information in the age of data processing is systematically ignored in the practice of the authorities. The fundamental right to informal self-determination and the right to access the files are primarily present on paper, but in everyday life they are increasingly worthless. The fainting in the face of the digitizedAdministration and the systematic restriction of individual control rights lead to the erosion of basic democratic values. A serious change of course in case law and administration would be indispensable in order to turn informal self-determination and inspection of files back into serious instruments of citizen autonomy. But as long as the digital administration continues to grow, the right toSelf-determination an endangered foundation in the German constitutional state.