Federal Government
Wiese: Don’t bury data retention too quickly
The deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Dirk Wiese. photo
© Jörg Carstensen/dpa
Data retention in Germany is “entirely illegal and therefore inapplicable,” explains Marco Buschmann. The SPD parliamentary group deputy contradicts – and criticizes the FDP Minister of Justice.
The deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Dirk Wiese, maintains a legally compliant regulation Data retention is still possible even after the recent decision of the Federal Administrative Court.
At the same time, he criticized Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP), who had interpreted it as an argument for the “quick freeze procedure” he favored. Wiese told the German Press Agency: “It really surprises me how some people in Berlin have read the Federal Administrative Court’s decision and even see it as a complete rejection of targeted IP address storage.”
Wiese believes Buschmann’s proposal is inadequate
Finally, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated that traffic and location data may well be stored generally and indiscriminately. This applies when it comes to protecting national security, combating serious crime or preventing serious threats to public security. “A justice minister cannot hide this from the public if he instead praises the inadequate quick-freeze procedure from his own company,” said Wiese. He added that if you don’t save anything, you can’t freeze anything.
The Federal Administrative Court had classified the unfounded and comprehensive data retention as being completely contrary to European law. The decision published on Thursday was based on complaints from two telecommunications companies. Due to legal uncertainties, the regulation has no longer been used since 2017.
Buschmann promotes “quick freeze process”
The court held that there was no strict limitation to the storage of traffic and location data for the purpose of protecting national security. Although IP addresses may be stored to combat serious crime and prevent serious threats to public safety, this is not clearly stated in the Telecommunications Act.
Buschmann had stated that the decision made it finally clear that data retention in Germany is “entirely unlawful and therefore inapplicable”. He promoted the “quick freeze procedure” and said: “Investigating authorities can have relevant traffic data immediately frozen by the providers if they suspect a significant crime in order to use it later in the process.”