Minister of Justice defends abolition: “Data retention does not help in the Darknet”

The ECJ has overturned the data retention without cause, which is why Minister of Justice Buschmann only wants to have data stored if there is a concrete suspicion of a crime. He dismissed criticism of this from the Ministry of the Interior tagesschau24-Interview back.

tagesschau24: It is an eternal contentious issue: data retention. The most recent ruling by the European Court of Justice was supposed to clarify that, but it has triggered new discussions between you and your cabinet colleague Nancy Faeser. At the same time, you intend to present a draft law in just a few days. What will that look like in terms of data retention?

Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann: There is a broad consensus that we want to replace data retention. I have been fighting this instrument for many years. We also want to use both of the scopes of the Luxembourg judgment. And I don’t want to eliminate data retention without replacement, but replace it with a so-called quick freeze model: a modern investigative tool that also complies with fundamental rights. In addition, we have prepared for this situation, which is why the dispute is not that big. Because the coalition agreement says very clearly: Everything that used to be regulated in terms of data retention will be regulated in future in such a way that it no longer happens without cause. And such event-related storage, i.e. if there is a concrete suspicion of a crime, I would like to make that possible – that’s exactly what Quick Freeze is.

Only classic investigations work on the Darknet

tagesschau24: But then your colleague Nancy Faeser said: What can I do with Quick Freeze if the data is no longer there? She seems to have a different take on it.

Bushman: Most service providers store data for IT security reasons. So the sweeping assertion that there is nothing left is not true. And we now have very good investigative successes, especially in the difficult area of ​​serious violence against children and sexual violence against children. Only very few cases fail because of the assignment of an IP address – that’s always given as a reason. That’s only 3.5 percent. At a time when old-style data retention still existed, in 2017, it was 40 percent. This already shows that one cannot simply say that data retention has solved the problem. We also need good investigative work, and that helps us.

tagesschau24: In any case, it is said that quick freeze is of no use because it cannot be used on the dark web, where most cases of sexual abuse begin.

Bushman: You’re right. But data retention doesn’t help either. The Darknet is an area where the assignment with technical instruments is prevented. That is why we are dependent on obtaining information using the classic investigative method.

tagesschau24: Let’s take a look at another big project of your house: You once said that it was the “change of times in family law”, namely the introduction of a so-called community of responsibility. How exactly is that supposed to look like?

Bushman: There are simply other situations in life than marriage: older people who don’t want to go into a home, who might set up a shared flat, but then have problems when someone dies. What happens to the apartment then? Or if someone from this community comes to the hospital, you may not get any information about their state of health. There are single parents who want to help each other raise children but don’t want to get married – because our society has become more colourful, more mobile and different. And the previous family law was very much geared towards the fact that there is only the classic marriage with children. It’s still important – I’m also married out of enthusiasm. But we also have to offer something for these other life situations in order to regulate people’s circumstances in a legally secure manner.

Gas allocation “legally feasible”

tagesschau24: The Catholic Family Association says, however, that they are setting false incentives for more non-binding nature. And even in the Basic Law, marriage is under special protection. What do you say to such critics?

Bushman: The special protection of marriage is beyond doubt. Nobody changes that. And in the life situations I describe, nothing is taken away from anyone. The seniors in a flat-sharing community, the single parents who help each other – they don’t want to get married or adopt. We just offer extra protection. And a lot of experts welcome that. I even get positive feedback from very devout Catholics who say: This is actually a principle of Catholic social teaching. Namely, empowering people to help themselves instead of always immediately calling for the state.

tagesschau24: Now some viewers are probably wondering why we don’t talk about the big issues of our time: Uniper, gas prices, inflation. You wanted to stay out of that because it didn’t concern your house. Does that mean you are quite happy that your topics are currently less in focus?

Bushman: Of course, as a member of the government, I also deal with the big questions. And we, as the Ministry of Justice, are busy checking not only the legal formality, but also the constitutionality. With the gas surcharge, there was the question of whether this was legally questionable. However, both the Ministry of Finance and the Chancellery and my experts say that this is legally feasible.

The conversation was conducted by Constantin Schreiber, tagesschau24. The interview was slightly adapted for the written version.