The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) has announced the launch of a new series of publications, entitled "Context of the Data Barometer," to strengthen the scientific basis of its investigations.

This initiative aims to make transparent and develop the methods used for the "Data Barometer," a representative population survey on data protection topics. The first publication presents a new short scale, empirically validated, to measure data protection competence. Designed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Wurtzburg, this scale allows an assessment using only four questions, thus making it suitable for multi-thematic surveys. It fills a gap, as measuring this competence was previously considered too complex for standardized surveys. The BfDI will now integrate this tool into all editions of the "Data Barometer" to analyze response differences based on competence, age, gender, and education level.