Private Law Solutions in European Data Protection: Relationship to Privacy, and Waiver of Data Protection Rights

In this article a possibility of a private law approach to data protection is considered. The main thesis of the contribution is that the European legal order allows only a limited scope of contractual and property rights with regard to personal data, restricted by the consideration to preserve human rights. In the piece it is first proved that in the system of the ECHR data protection interests are treated under the umbrella of Article 8 right to privacy. As a result, the author concludes that Article 8 right to privacy does not imply a right to waive data protection but provides a legitimate ground to restrict freedom of contract in that area.