Data protection law is often invoked as the first line of defence against data-related interferences with fundamental rights. As societal activity has increasingly taken on a digital component, the scope of application of the law has expanded. Data protection has been labelled ‘the law of everything’. While this expansion of material scope to absorb the impact of socio-technical changes on human rights appears justified, less critical attention has been paid to the questions of to whom the law should apply and in what circumstances. The Court of Justice has justified an expansive interpretation of the personal scope of the law in order to ensure ‘effective and complete’ data protection for individuals. This article argues that the attempt to make the protection offered by the law more ‘complete’ risks jeopardising its practical effectiveness and raises doubts about the soundness of the regulatory approach to data protection. In the quest for effective and complete protection, it seems that something must give.

中文翻译：

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完整有效的数据保护

数据保护法经常被用作防止与数据相关的基本权利受到干扰的第一道防线。随着社会活动越来越多地呈现出数字化的特征，法律的适用范围也随之扩大。数据保护被贴上了“一切法则”的标签。虽然这种扩大物质范围以吸收社会技术变革对人权的影响的做法似乎是合理的，但对于法律应适用于谁以及在什么情况下适用的问题却很少受到关注。法院对法律的个人范围进行了广泛的解释，以确保对个人的“有效和完整”的数据保护。本文认为，试图使法律提供的保护更加“完整”，可能会损害其实际有效性，并引发人们对数据保护监管方法的合理性的怀疑。为了寻求有效和完整的保护，似乎必须做出一些让步。