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The Consent Paradox: Accounting for the Prominent Role of Consent in Data Protection

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  • Bergemann, Benjamin

Abstract

The concept of consent is a central pillar of data protection. It features prominently in research, regulation, and public debates on the subject, in spite of the wide-ranging criticisms that have been levelled against it. In this paper, I refer to this as the consent paradox. I argue that consent continues to play a central role not despite but because the criticisms of it. I analyze the debate on consent in the scholarly literature in general, and among German data protection professionals in particular, showing that it is a focus on the informed individual that keeps the concept of consent in place. Critiques of consent based on the notion of “informedness” reinforce the centrality of consent rather than calling it into question. They allude to a market view that foregrounds individual choice. Yet, the idea of a data market obscures more fundamental objections to consent, namely the individual’s dependency on data controllers’ services that renders the assumption of free choice a fiction.

Suggested Citation

  • Bergemann, Benjamin, 2018. "The Consent Paradox: Accounting for the Prominent Role of Consent in Data Protection," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 111-131.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:180107
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alessandro Acquisti & Curtis Taylor & Liad Wagman, 2016. "The Economics of Privacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(2), pages 442-492, June.
    2. Bergemann, Benjamin, 2017. "Der „informed consent“ im Datenschutz: Eine politikwissenschaftliche Analyse," EconStor Books, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 162861, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Theilen, Jens T. & Baur-Ahrens, Andreas & Bieker, Felix & Ammicht Quinn, Regina & Hansen, Marit & González Fuster, Gloria, 2021. "Feminist data protection: An introduction," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 10(4), pages 1-26.

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