González Fuster, Gloria --- "Courts, privacy and data protection in Spain: Experiencing data protection’s dominance" [2017] ELECD 681; in Brkan, Maja; Psychogiopoulou, Evangelia (eds), "Courts, Privacy and Data Protection in the Digital Environment" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 197

Book Title: Courts, Privacy and Data Protection in the Digital Environment

Editor(s): Brkan, Maja; Psychogiopoulou, Evangelia

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784718701

Section: Chapter 11

Section Title: Courts, privacy and data protection in Spain: Experiencing data protection’s dominance

Author(s): González Fuster, Gloria

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

The role of Spanish courts in the safeguarding of online privacy and personal data protection is profoundly marked by the framing of these rights in the Spanish Constitution. This chapter introduces such constitutional construction, describes the key issues and trends in related case law, and traces the main litigation patterns on privacy and data protection in Spain. Doing so, it shows how the early recognition of the right to personal data protection as an autonomous fundamental right has played a crucial role in the online protection of individuals’ rights and freedoms in Spain, and how it has also facilitated and encouraged an influential judicial dialogue between Spanish courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Keywords: privacy, personal data protection, courts, constitutional rights, litigation, autonomous right.