German federal ministers approved legislation Wed. that adopts EU...
German federal ministers approved legislation Wed. that adopts EU rules for mandatory retention of telephone and Internet traffic data into national law. The draft, which now goes to the upper house of Parliament for debate and a vote, would…
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amend the Telecom Surveillance Ordinance in criminal cases while enhancing privacy rights and taking into account rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court, according to a translation by German telecom lawyer Axel Spies. It bars surveillance “if there are indications that it will only lead to information that pertains to the inner privacy sphere of the individual,” he said -- once that becomes known, surveillance must stop. In addition, such information can’t be used in a criminal proceeding and must immediately be deleted. The bill requires that all traffic data be stored for 6-months by public voice and data providers and that all traffic data of public telecom providers be stored in Germany or another EU country, Spies said. It doesn’t require providers to be reimbursed for costs of data retention, but allows them to request payment under a law granting reimbursement to witnesses and experts in the course of specific govt. investigations. German alternative providers are in the process of analyzing the complicated draft, but they believe any law that doesn’t provide fair reimbursement of storage costs is unconstitutional, Spies said on behalf of the German Competitive Carriers Assn.: “The vast amount of data that carriers and providers must store, just in case law enforcement needs it, will become a supermarket for the law enforcement agencies.”