Informational self-determination
Encyclopedia
The term informational self-determination
was first used in the context of a German constitutional ruling relating to personal information collected during the 1983 census.
In that occasion, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that: “[...] in the context of modern data processing, the protection of the individual against unlimited collection, storage, use and disclosure of his/her personal data is encompassed by the general personal rights of the [German Constitution]. This basic right warrants in this respect the capacity of the individual to determine in principle the disclosure and use of his/her personal data. Limitations to this informational self-determination are allowed only in case of overriding public interest.”
Informational self-determination is often considered similar to the right to privacy but has unique characteristics that distinguish it from the "Right to privacy" in the United States tradition. Informational self-determination reflects Westin's description of privacy: “The right of the individual to decide what information about himself should be communicated to others and under what circumstances” (Westin, 1970). In contrast, the "Right to privacy" in the United States legal tradition is commonly considered to originate in Warren
and Brandeis
' article, which focuses on the right to "solitude" (i.e., being "left alone") and in the Constitution's Fourth Amendment
, which protects persons and their belongings from warrantless search.
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
was first used in the context of a German constitutional ruling relating to personal information collected during the 1983 census.
In that occasion, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that: “[...] in the context of modern data processing, the protection of the individual against unlimited collection, storage, use and disclosure of his/her personal data is encompassed by the general personal rights of the [German Constitution]. This basic right warrants in this respect the capacity of the individual to determine in principle the disclosure and use of his/her personal data. Limitations to this informational self-determination are allowed only in case of overriding public interest.”
Informational self-determination is often considered similar to the right to privacy but has unique characteristics that distinguish it from the "Right to privacy" in the United States tradition. Informational self-determination reflects Westin's description of privacy: “The right of the individual to decide what information about himself should be communicated to others and under what circumstances” (Westin, 1970). In contrast, the "Right to privacy" in the United States legal tradition is commonly considered to originate in Warren
Samuel D. Warren (US attorney)
Samuel Dennis Warren was a Boston attorney.Warren graduated from Harvard College in 1875 and graduated second in his class at Harvard Law School in 1877. The first-place student was his friend Louis Brandeis, later a justice of the United States Supreme Court...
and Brandeis
Louis Brandeis
Louis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
' article, which focuses on the right to "solitude" (i.e., being "left alone") and in the Constitution's Fourth Amendment
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...
, which protects persons and their belongings from warrantless search.