Federal Statistics Act (Germany)

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Basic data
Title: Law on Statistics for Federal Purposes
Short title: Federal Statistics Act
Abbreviation: BStatG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Administrative law
References : 29-22
Original version from: September 3, 1953
( BGBl. I p. 1314 )
Entry into force on: September 25, 1953
New announcement from: October 20, 2016
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2394 )
Last change by: Art. 6 G of 10 July 2020
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1648, 1652 )
Effective date of the
last change: 		July 17, 2020
(Art. 7 G of July 10, 2020)
GESTA : C126
Weblink: Legal text
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Federal Statistics Act (Law on Statistics for Federal Purposes - BStatG) regulates the principles of organizational and procedural law as well as the substantive law of federal statistics in Germany . It provides the framework to which the individual statistic laws and legal provisions in Germany have to be oriented and has been considered the "Basic Law" of official statistics since its predecessor came into force in 1953 .

historical development

There was no general and comprehensive regulation for the law of the Reich Statistics , the implementation of which was largely the responsibility of the Reich Authority , the Imperial Statistical Office (later the Reich Statistical Office ), established in 1872 . Special legal bases had only been created for individual areas, e.g. B. for foreign trade, production and finance statistics as well as the census.

The United Economic Area Statistical Office Act of January 21, 1948, established a general basis for statistics to be kept in the area for the first time in the American and British zones. After the establishment of the Federal Republic, the law was extended to the territory of the French zone. However, this law lacked essential substantive provisions, such as B. to information and confidentiality obligations.

The Law on Statistics for Federal Purposes (StatGes) 1953 comes into force

With the Law on Statistics for Federal Purposes (StatGes) in 1953, the foundations of organizational, procedural and substantive statistical law were generally laid down for the first time in German statistics.

The StatGes came into force on September 25, 1953 and regulated for the first time. a. the organization and tasks of the Federal Statistical Office and the Statistical Advisory Board as well as the general duty of disclosure and confidentiality for official statistics.

Amendment 1980 - The StatGes is replaced by the BStatG

The StatGes was replaced by the law on statistics for federal purposes (Federal Statistics Act - BStatG) of March 14, 1980. The aim was to improve the topicality, flexibility and quality of the federal statistics. The regulations on statistical secrecy were developed further, especially in light of the more recent data protection legislation.

Amendment 1987 taking into account the census judgment

The BStatG received greater general attention when the Federal Constitutional Court stopped the census planned for 1983 with its so-called “ census judgment ” of December 15, 1983 and developed the right to informational self-determination . This set extended requirements for official statistics in the collection and processing of personal data , whereupon the BStatG 1987 was fundamentally amended. In particular, the introduction of the regulations on data collection and auxiliary features as well as on the separation and deletion of auxiliary features took account of statistical confidentiality and data protection . In addition, special requirements for representatives (counters and interviewers) of the statistical offices were specified and the exceptions to statistical confidentiality were restricted. For the further development of the statistical instruments were u. a. Regulations on access to data from generally accessible sources and from public registers as well as on the processing of data from administrative enforcement were created.

Changes due to Article 13 of the "Act to Promote Electronic Administration and Change Other Regulations"

By Art. 13 of the law for the promotion of the electronic administration as well as the change of further regulations u. a. In § 11a BStatG the obligation to transmit data electronically for authorities and companies as well as in § 10 paragraph 2 BStatG the possibility of storing statistical data in geo-referenced grid cells for improved small-scale representation introduced.

Amendment 2016

Another comprehensive amendment to the law followed in 2016 with Art. 1 of the Act amending the Federal Statistics Act and other statistical laws . The main focus of the change was to relieve the respondents by making greater use of administrative data and making official statistics more flexible and modern. In addition, federal law was harmonized with the law of the European Union.

Content of the law

Statistics for federal purposes

In § 1 BStatG tasks and purpose of federal statistics are described in general terms. According to this, the federal statistics in the federally structured system of official statistics has the task of continuously collecting, collecting, processing, presenting and analyzing data on mass phenomena. The principles of neutrality, objectivity and professional independence form the guiding principle of official statistics and are also standardized in § 1 BStatG. The purpose of the federal statistics is to support the federal, state, society, economy, science and research with their results. According to § 1 BStatG, it is the prerequisite for a policy based on the welfare state principle.

Federal Statistical Office and Statistical Advisory Board

The legal status and establishment of the Federal Statistical Office and its tasks are described in §§ 2 and 3 BStatG. Section 4 BStatG regulates the institution of the statistical advisory board, a user committee that advises the Federal Statistical Office. More details on the composition and tasks of the Statistical Advisory Board are determined by its rules of procedure.

Arrangement of federal statistics and use of administrative data

According to Section 5 (1) BStatG, federal statistics are generally ordered by law. Paragraphs 2 to 5 contain exceptions to this. Under certain conditions, federal statistics can be ordered by ordinance. Federal statistics, in which information is used exclusively from generally accessible sources, do not require any regulation by law or ordinance. The minimum requirements for a legal regulation ordering federal statistics are regulated by § 9 BStatG. According to this, such a survey must determine the survey characteristics, the auxiliary characteristics, the type of survey, the reporting period or the reporting time, the periodicity and the group of respondents.

Before ordering or changing federal statistics, however, the Federal Statistical Office must check, in accordance with Section 5a of the Federal Statistics Law, whether the public administration offices already have data of suitable quality for the preparation of the respective federal statistics . If this is the case, these administrative data are to be used primarily for generating statistics. Section 5a BStatG was added in 2016 in order to minimize the information required for respondents and to relieve official statistics.

The further exception to the principle of the obligation to issue orders is § 7 BStatG, according to which surveys for special purposes do not require an order. These are surveys on a voluntary basis to cope with a short-term need for data for certain purposes of the highest federal authorities and to clarify scientific-methodological questions in the field of statistics. The content and extent of such surveys are limited by the requirements specified in Section 7 of the Federal Statistics Law.

Survey and auxiliary features

Survey and auxiliary criteria are defined in Section 10 (1) BStatG.

Survey characteristics include information about personal and factual circumstances that are intended for statistical use. The statistical results are generated from these.

Auxiliary features are information that is used for the technical implementation of federal statistics. These include B. Name, first name and address. Above all, they serve to identify the respondents and enable a complete return of the survey documents issued to be checked. Due to their identifying character, according to Section 12 (1) BStatG, they are to be deleted as soon as the statistical offices have checked the conclusiveness and completeness of the survey and auxiliary features. They are also to be separated from the survey characteristics at the earliest possible point in time and stored separately.

The distinction between survey and auxiliary features and the determination of the deletion at the earliest possible point in time are the result of the census judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court and are of central importance for ensuring statistical confidentiality.

Obligation to provide information

For the official statistics to function properly, the highest possible degree of accuracy and truthfulness of the data collected is necessary. The prerequisite for a survey on a voluntary basis is that the informative value of the statistics is guaranteed in the same way as for surveys with information obligation. According to Section 15 (1) of the Federal Statistics Law, the legal provision ordering federal statistics must specify whether and to what extent the survey should be carried out with or without an obligation to provide information. If an obligation to provide information is specified, the respondents are obliged to answer the properly asked question. The content and form of a proper answer are regulated in paragraphs 3 to 6 of § 15 BStatG.

Anyone who intentionally or negligently does not provide information, or does not provide it correctly, completely or in good time, is acting improperly according to Section 23 (1) BStatG. According to Paragraph 2, it is also illegal to give the answer in a non-prescribed form or not to use the electronic data transfer procedure mentioned in Section 11a of the Federal Statistics Law. The regulatory offense can be punished with a fine of up to 5,000 €.

Statistical confidentiality

Corresponding to the respondents' obligation to provide information, the official statistics are obliged by § 16 BStatG to keep the individual information provided for the federal statistics confidential. The statistical secret serves to protect the individual against disclosure of his personal and factual circumstances and thus to maintain the relationship of trust between the respondents and the statistical offices. This is to ensure the reliability of the information and the willingness of the respondents to report. With regard to the protection of the respondents' right to informational self-determination, statistical secrecy is indispensable.

Narrow exceptions to confidentiality are also regulated in § 16 BStatG or can be determined by special legal regulation. Individual details are subject to e.g. B. not to statistical confidentiality if the data subjects have consented to their transmission or publication, if they are summarized with information from other respondents and presented in statistical results or if they cannot be assigned to the respondents or data subjects.

Another important exception is Section 16 (6) BStatG with the so-called scientific privilege. According to this, individual details for the implementation of scientific projects can be transmitted in de facto anonymized form to universities or other institutions with the task of independent scientific research. They can also be granted access to formally anonymized individual data within specially secured areas of the statistical offices. Factually anonymized individual information is such that can only be assigned with a disproportionately large amount of time, costs and manpower. In contrast, formal anonymization only involves removing direct identifiers such as name and address. The scope of features and the technical and regional classifications are retained.

Merging the individual information with other information for the purpose of re-identification is prohibited according to § 21 BStatG (re-identification prohibition) and even punishable according to § 22 BStatG due to the paramount importance of statistical secrecy .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WiGBl. P. 19.
  2. ↑ Reinhardt Busch: On the draft of a law on statistics for federal purposes. In: Economy and Statistics (WISTA), 1952, p. 433.
  3. ↑ BGBl. 1980 I p. 289
  4. ↑ BT-Drs. 8/2517
  5. ^ Gerhard Bürgin: On the amendment of the Federal Statistics Law. In: Economy and Statistics (WISTA), 1980, p. 501 ff.
  6. ↑ BGBl. 1987 I p. 462 ; BT-Drs. 10/5345 ; BT-Drs. 10/6666
  7. ↑ BT-Drs. 18/7561
  8. ↑ Marion Engelter, Kay Sommer: The amendment of the Federal Statistics Act 2016. In: Wirtschaft und Statistik (WISTA), 6/2016, p. 11 ff. Accessed on November 7, 2017.
  9. ^ Federal Statistical Office (Destatis): Rules of Procedure for the Statistical Advisory Board. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  10. ↑ Dorer / Mainusch / Tubies: BStatG, § 10, Rn. 4f., Munich 1988.
  11. ↑ BVerfG, judgment of December 15, 1983 - 1 BvR 209/83 -, BVerfGE 65, 1-71, Rn. 164.
  12. ↑ Dorer / Mainusch / Tubies: BStatG, § 15, Rn. 1, Munich 1988.
  13. ↑ BT-Drs. 10/5345, p. 20.
  14. ↑ BVerfG, judgment of December 15, 1983 - 1 BvR 209/83 -, BVerfGE 65, 1-71, Rn. 163.
  15. ↑ Federal and state statistical offices (research data centers): data access - anonymity of microdata. ( Memento of November 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved November 7, 2017.