Der deliktische Schadensersatz im europäischen Datenschutzprivatrecht

The legal consequences of infringements of the right to personal data protection are of minor importance and mostly result in financial penalties as administrative sanctions. The liability for infringements of data protection clauses has the potential to effectuate enforcement. The lack of a practical definition of damage caused by infringements of data protection law, particularly the difficulty of assessing damage, make an effective claim for damages hardly possible. The predominantly occurring non-material damages cannot be measured in monetary terms and they thus impede the effective enforcement of possible civil claims.
Today personal data are a valuable commodity for businesses. The right to personal data protection based on tort law already encompasses the protection of commercial interests. For this reason a ‘materialising’ of infringements of data protection rules appears to be feasible.