Today, the German Bundestag’s Committee on Internal Affairs and Home Affairs is dealing with the outstanding issues regarding the implementation of the NIS2 Directive, whose deadline for national transposition already expired on October 17, 2024. eco Association is urging for a swift adoption of the law.

The eco – Association of the Internet Industry welcomes the progress and the renewed attempt to find a solution that is sustainable under constitutional and European law.

Based on the latest developments, Germany is expected to approve the current draft of the AI Act this coming Friday. eco Association advocates for a real-world transposition and EU-wide standardised criteria in dealing with AI systems.

Since the beginning of the year, doctors have been obliged to issue e-prescriptions that can be redeemed in pharmacies using an app or the electronic health card (eGK). The majority of Germans (53.7 per cent) welcome this and say they would like to use e-prescriptions digitally in the future.

AI is a key technology of the future with a wide range of possible applications and the potential to transform the economy, science and society. Nevertheless, there are still major reservations about AI-based technologies in large parts of the German population, as displayed through an eco/Civey survey. eco calls for a broad debate in order to boost societal acceptance.

It is difficult to predict how German reunification would have unfolded if the Internet had existed in its current form. However, approximately one in three Germans (30.5 per cent) believes that German reunification would have occurred sooner if the digital global networking had existed at that time. These are the results of a representative survey of 2,515 Germans conducted by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of the eco – Association of the Internet Industry, on the occasion of this year’s German Unification Day.

On 11 May 2022, the EU Commission published its proposal for the CSAM Regulation calling for a variety of new provisions for providers of online services, the designation of so-called “Coordinating Authorities” in the Member States and the establishment of a European Centre to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

eco Association welcomes the decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court regarding software data analysis undertaken by the police in Hessen and Hamburg. The court has declared the regulations on automated data analysis to be unconstitutional.

Claudia Plattner is to become the new president of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Norbert Pohlmann, eco Board Member for IT Security, congratulates.

The directive “for a high common level of cyber security” appeared in the EU Official Journal at the end of December and will enter into force on 16 January 2023. Numerous companies, state-owned enterprises and public authorities will have to comply with new requirements in the area of cyber security. eco Board Member Klaus Landefeld comments.