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Legal Compatibility as a Characteristic of Sociotechnical Systems

Goals and Standardized Requirements

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Abstract

Legal compatibility as a characteristic of sociotechnical systems aims at the greatest possible compliance with higher-order legal goals for minimizing social risks of technical systems and extends legality, which refers to the prevention of lawlessness. The paper analyzes the criteria for legal compatibility by reviewing specifications of legally compatible systems and shows goals and resulting requirements to foster legal compatibility. These comprise the following areas: avoiding personal reference in data, ensuring information security, enabling freedom of decision, increasing transparency, ensuring traceability, and increasing usability, whereby traceability and the avoidance of personal reference pursue conflicting goals. The presentation of the goals including their dependencies, relationships, and conflicts in form of standardized requirements explains legal compatibility and summarizes the requirements necessary for the development of legally compatible systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Information Systems, Research Center for Information System Design (ITeG), University of Kassel, Pfannkuchstr. 1, 34121, Kassel, Germany

    Axel Hoffmann &  Jan Marco Leimeister

  2. Public Law Particularly Environmental Law and Technology Law, Research Center for Information System Design (ITeG), University of Kassel, Pfannkuchstr. 1, 34121, Kassel, Germany

    Thomas Schulz, Julia Zirfas &  Alexander Roßnagel

  3. Competence Center Business Performance, Fraunhofer-Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation, Nobelstraße 12, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Holger Hoffmann

  4. Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen, Müller-Friedberg-Str. 8, 9000, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Jan Marco Leimeister

Authors
  1. Axel Hoffmann
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  2. Thomas Schulz
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  3. Julia Zirfas
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  4. Holger Hoffmann
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  5. Alexander Roßnagel
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  6. Jan Marco Leimeister
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Correspondence to Axel Hoffmann.

Additional information

Accepted after one revision by Prof. Dr. Jarke.

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Hoffmann, A., Schulz, T., Zirfas, J. et al. Legal Compatibility as a Characteristic of Sociotechnical Systems. Bus Inf Syst Eng 57, 103–113 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-015-0373-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-015-0373-5

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