Project details

Proactive information instead of lengthy ‘Terms and Conditions': Passau's Chair of Public Law, Media Law and Information Law develops texts, sample documents and templates that can be used to promote an understanding of the issues involved in data protection and privacy. The project receives support from the DATEV foundation.

The project's aim is to produce texts, sample documents and templates which can be used for educational, training and informational purposes to improve individuals' understanding of privacy issues, thereby demonstrating what privacy-related communication could look like in practice. Over the course of the project, sample documents on data protection which are both easily comprehensible and highly practice-oriented will be published and made available under a free license for use by the general public. These texts are based on expertise from the legal and communication studies fields.

The project is based on the concept of ‘rational apathy', according to which persons subject to privacy-related issues tend to accept data protection breaches or infringements of their right to informational self-determination; not only that, but they are likely to not consider the facts and the framework under which their personal data are being used. This is due to information asymmetry between the data processor and the individual concerned, and to some extent to the flow of information itself. This is where the project comes in: It attempts to advocate in favour of comprehensive and interactive privacy-related communication, for instance as part of a company's corporate communications, that integrates practical guidelines such as privacy seals and certifications.

Professor Kai von Lewinski, holder of the Chair of Public Law, Media Law and Information Law, leads the project at the University of Passau. The project receives the funding from the DATEV Foundation.