Data protection as bundles of principles, general rights, concrete subjective rights and rules: Piercing the veil of stability surrounding the principles of data protection

After having reflected about technologies and the role of non-political guidance in EU data protection law in previous editorials, I now turn to the thorny question about the proper place of data protection law. In search of a substance, I use Murakami’s imaginary to prepare for the worst: not all things, concepts and beings are blessed with substance. After having managed (lowered) possible expectations about the essence of data protection law, I turn to a first approach to understanding data protection law as a bundle of principles. Principles are powerful legal topoi that create seriousness about legal domains. They are defended by the best scholars and much appreciated by courts in their role as judicial lawmakers. They look God-given, but are man-made. Unable to fix their number and precise nature, I will challenge them by inflating their number.