Privates Datenschutzrecht

The idea that consumers "pay" for digital services with their data ignores the fact that consumers most often are not aware of the "data price" of digital services. Nevertheless, consumers’ consent remains a key legal element of data-intensive services under the GDPR. By this, European data protection law builds on the notion of private autonomy and follows a private law approach to data protection. Against this background, a modern, human rights oriented understanding of private law helps to identify the limits of consent and sheds new light on the goals of data protection in a data driven economy and how they can be achieved applying the legal framework of the GDPR.