Constanze Kurz was born in East Berlin in 1974. Her interest in technology was sparked by her father's work as an engineer and the education she acquired at vocational college. With relatives who worked in the church, her family was also of interest to the dreaded secret police.
After finishing school, she began studying economics because it seemed like a sensible option in the post-unification years. But then she switched to computing, with a special focus on surveillance technologies. She wrote her dissertation on electronic voting. She now works for the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin and as a volunteer spokesperson for the Chaos Computer Club. She also serves on a special Internet and Digital Society Commission convened by parliament. Constanze Kurz lives and works in Berlin.