Rights of Researchers and Governments to National Records: Who Owns Contract and Grant Data and Who Can Use It?

The legal context for social science data access in Germany is significantly different from the American situation. While the federal and state data protection laws have been enacted in the late seventies (like in most European countries), a general data access regulation as the equally important component of information legislation is still lacking. In this situation Article 5 of the German Federal Republic's Constitution is referenced as the most authoritative written norm. It guarantees freedom of arts and science, research and teaching in general, but does not say anything specific about data access. The interpretation of this article by courts and experts, however, acknowledges in principle the right to information access. This position is contrasted by the actual behaviour of the German Administration. An orientation to keep information under its control is prevailing (1). In practice it is the researcher who has to justify the information request and has to prove that he cannot achieve his results by other means. There is no regulation demanding from the Administration to justify its refusal. On the contrary the researcher has to convince the data holding administration of the impor:tance and legitimacy of his research intention. In short: There is no equivalent to the Freedom of Information Act.