GERMANY: Guidelines for a modern data protection law

On March 18, 2010, the summit of the highest data protection authorities in Germany passed guidelines for a modern data protection law for the twenty-first century. The guidelines are intended to form a basis for discussions on a major reform of the existing German privacy laws.

According to the guidelines, future data protection laws should be built upon the following principles: (1) definition of fundamental minimum standards such as purpose limitation etc., (2) technology-neutral regulations, (3) fostering rights of the data subjects, (4) specific safeguards for processing data "online," (5) strengthening self-monitoring by data controllers, (6) reinforcing independence of public supervision, (7) providing for more effective sanction and (8) designing the laws more transparently and easier to read.