Personal Data Protection in German Police Law

The paper examines the principal administrative procedures for the collection (Datenerhebung), processing (Datenverarbeitung), storage (Datenspeicherung), and use (Verwendung) of personal data by the German public-order police and criminal police. The core procedures for the handling of personal data by the police fall within the competence of the federal states (Länder). Of particular significance is the handling of personal data obtained through covert investigative measures involving the secret use of computer-recording devices. Considerable attention is given to special procedures for protecting personal data obtained through long-term surveillance (längerfristige Observation) as well as covert surveillance (verdeckte Observation), in accordance with the rules on the handling of personal data established by the General Act for the Protection of Public Safety and Order (ASOG) of Berlin. Verdeckte Observation and other extraordinary police measures entailing significant restrictions of rights are regulated in detail by the ASOG primarily from the standpoint of personal data protection; this constitutes the essence of this fundamental postulate of police law. Police coercion (Verwaltungsvollstreckung/ Polizeizwang) always takes precedence below the adoption of appropriate law-enforcement measures that promote the protection of personal data and the minimization of property damage, moral injury, or reputational harm caused by police response measures, including in cases of unlawful handling of information resources.