Dr. Alexander Dix
Commissioner for Data Protection & Freedom of Information
Berlin, Germany
Built-in Privacy: No panacea, but a necessary element
of privacy protection

Dr. Alexander Dix, LL.M. (Lond.), was elected as Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information by the Berlin State Parliament (Germany) in June 2005. Previously he had been Commissioner in the State of Brandenburg for seven years. He has 24 years of working experience in the field of data protection.

Dr. Dix is a specialist in telecommunications and media and has dealt with a number of issues regarding the cross-border protection of citizens’ privacy. He chairs the International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications (“Berlin Group”) and is a member of the Art. 29 Working Party of European Data Protection Supervisory Authorities. In this Working Party he represents the Data Protection Authorities of the 16 German States (Länder).

A native of Bad Homburg, Hessen, Alexander Dix graduated from Hamburg University with a degree in law in 1975. He received a Master of Laws degree from London University after studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1976 and a Doctorate in law from Hamburg University in 1984. He has published extensively on issues of data protection and freedom of information.