The links between data protection and online services

The specificities of digital resilience and interpretive primacy

Abstract

The supply and demand of services in the information society takes place mainly in the online space. The role of the supervisory authorities’ (and ultimately the courts’) powers to protect our personal data has therefore become more important. Digital resilience has a major impact on twenty-first century jurisdictional activity, which is necessarily characterised by a confrontation of competing rights at the intersection of privacy and online services. Even in general, the application of European Union law requires a partially different approach to the interpretation of national law, however, data protection law has its own specificities. The activity of supervisory authorities is becoming increasingly pronounced, and the need for a law enforcement approach with a view to protecting rights is clearly evident from the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The trends also justify some of the specificities of interpretative primacy in this area of law.