Legal framework of data protection. Current requirements in Germany and requirements in planned European Union regulations

The federal system in Germany necessitates that in addition to federal laws, country and church-specific legislations must also be considered during the evaluation of relevant legal stipulations concerning data protection. Furthermore, there are also special legal regulations for hospitals in almost every federal state which are governed by the principle of subsidiarity: special legal regulations are to be preferentially used, so that findings from one federal state are difficult to transfer to another federal state. Patient data may only be used and processed without legal regulations with informed consent of the patient. The use of patient data for purposes of quality assurance, research and further education of students and doctors is possible under the present laws according to a positive weighting of interests. Patient data can also be exchanged via online services for the purposes of patient care; however, informed consent of the patient for medical online services is almost always unavoidable.