Informationeller Selbstschutz und Verhandlungsmacht

This book on information law examines the balance between informational self-determination and legitimate information interests within the context of a private-law contractual relationship where one of the contracting parties is almost unilaterally able to determine the contract terms due to its greater negotiating power: the private insurance contract. It is shown initially that pre-contractual information gathering is an expression of private autonomy and is constitutionally guaranteed as an element of contractual freedom. Its restriction through state interference requires legal justification. At the same time, the protective dimension of fundamental rights requires the state to guarantee the “the legal prerequisites for effective informational self-protection” (German Federal Constitutional Court) – also in connection with information collection by private companies. This analysis examines to what extent the individual insurance applicant can autonomously safeguard this protection and whether the constitutional obligation of the state to protect the right to self-determination demands restrictions for information collection possibilities in connection with requests for medical examinations and genetic/ predictive data.