Datenschutz und Demokratie

The author confronts the individualistic conception of the data protection law in force with an understanding which also identifies the protection of democracy as a function of data protection and further analyzes how a broader conception could help solving the dilemmas and deficits in effectiveness data protection law has to deal with especially on the internet. The author observes two processes separating like a pair of scissors: an individualization of data protection law on the one hand and risks which increasingly the society and not only individuals on the other. It is this separation which the author identifies as the main problem of the data protection law in force.