German government to legalize extensive tracking of Internet users (26 Nov 2012) |
The German government is proposing a law that would allow law enforcement and intelligence agencies to extensively identify Internet users. No judicial order or reasonable suspicion of a crime is to be required. Identification of IP addresses is not to be limited to a case-by-case basis. Providers are to install electronic data handover interfaces. The government is also planning to grant access to e-mail account passwords as well as to voicebox and mobile phone PIN codes without clearly defining the preconditions to such access. AK Vorrat has listed four ways in which data access is to be extended and the level of data protection is to be decreased. AK Vorrat has also identified seven points in which the law project is considered unconstitutional. The second chamber of Parliament (Bundesrat) will deal with the project this week. |