Starting work at the BND in the morning begins with a ritual. Directly behind the entrance locks, the employees enter special rooms, hundreds of miniature lockers are located on the walls here. The private mobile phone, but also the Apple Watch or Bluetooth headphones must be locked away. Anything that could be used to photograph or record is prohibited in the security area of the German foreign intelligence service. Exceptions only apply to specially checked service cell phones. Anyone who is ill at home or can otherwise demonstrate that they need to be available by SMS around the clock for urgent reasons can also apply for a special permit. Then the private SIM card is inserted into a BND mobile phone, in which the camera and microphone had previously been rendered unusable.
Change of perspective at the BND – politics
