Big-Data-Anwendungen als Herausforderung für das Gesundheitsdatenschutzrecht

Big Data applications increasingly process sensitive health data. This trend puts the health data protection law in Germany and the EU to the test. Roman Schildbach comprehensively examines whether the current legal framework can balance the great opportunities of Big Data for health with the considerable risks to privacy. A relevant part of the previous literature concludes that the legal framework is unfit to regulate Big Data in the health sector. In contrast, the author elaborates how an interpretation and application of the law aimed at balancing interests often enable practicable solutions. To the extent that the law shows weaknesses when applied to cases related to Big Data, possibilities for action de lege ferenda are developed.