More than users realise

Corporations are amassing huge amounts of data that allow detailed statements to be made about a person. How do data protectionists deal with the phenomenon of "big data" - is data protection even possible? Information law expert Jürgen Taeger in an interview.

QUESTION: A large corporation recently presented its wristwatch, which measures calorie consumption and stores the kilometres walked. A marvellous technology?

TAEGER: You're talking about "wearables", small computers worn on the body, such as watches that measure your pulse or glasses that are equipped with screens and cameras. These can be devices with very useful functions. However, users should ensure that they themselves decide who receives the data they collect. What many people don't realise: The wearables can also send back information via mini transmitters. This means the provider can always see who is interested in which product at which location.

QUESTION: So big data permeates our entire lives.

TAEGER: Exactly. Think of the new black box for cars that records driving behaviour and sends the data to car insurance companies. Or "lifeloggers", who film their lives with a camera on their helmet. Small drones used by photographers take pictures of people and the landscape from above. The internet is full of photos. Or "smart TVs" transmit to the manufacturers which TV programmes are watched by whom.

QUESTION: With smart TVs, the TV is directly connected to the Internet - everything is networked.

TAEGER: Broadcasting, digital press, telemedia - transmission channels and content are converging. One question is: who is actually responsible for regulating this? Is it the Federal States, as with the press and broadcasting? Or is it the federal government, which has legislative competence for telemedia, i.e. the Internet, and for telecommunications? Digital media behaviour and communication, our interests, preferences and contacts are recorded and evaluated on smart TVs. An extreme example at the moment: Instagram.

QUESTION: A social media platform for photos and videos, comparable to Facebook.

TAEGER: Photos stored there are precisely analysed for personalised advertising: What are the people pictured wearing, where are they hanging out, what are they consuming, who are they travelling with? The data stored says much more than users realise. And all this data can be linked and analysed. So far, hardly anyone wants to realise how these unimaginable amounts of data - big data - are already being analysed today.

QUESTION: How can our data protection keep pace with all these rapid developments?

TAEGER: That's the big issue. We are discussing many "small" data protection cases here in Germany. We are meticulously interpreting the legal concepts of current law and losing sight of the "big" issues.

QUESTION: Do you have an example?

TAEGER: In scoring, this statistical method for calculating a customer's creditworthiness, we are discussing the fact that a second "significant date" must be used for the calculation in addition to the residential address. What is "significant" is the subject of endless dispute, even though Schufa does not use residential addresses at all.

QUESTION: Is the case law on data protection getting lost in the minutiae?

TAEGER: My feeling is that this is sometimes the case. As necessary as our data protection regulations are, and as important as it is to interpret them correctly, I don't see experts and the public discussing the supposedly silent technological developments around us enough - even though they provide incredible possibilities for analysing our data. Data that provides information about our behaviour, our desires and our relationships. Above all, we are only at the beginning of a truly revolutionary development that can at best be compared to the invention of the printing press or the PC.

QUESTION: As a lawyer, how do you intend to change this?

TAEGER: I am not a technophile. On the contrary. I am pleased about many useful new developments that also keep our economy going. We need to research the consequences of big data applications and identify socially detrimental developments. The topic has certainly arrived at our Institute in Oldenburg, where we are addressing this issue at the end of projects and in the "Information Law" law Master's degree programme.


Prof. Dr Jürgen Taeger will take part in the Oldenburg Castle Talks on Monday, 1 December as a panel guest, moderated by Maybritt Illner. The topic: "Web 3.0: Are people trapped in the net? Freedom, control and monitoring in the digital age".