The implementation of a three-month storage obligation for IP addresses announced today by Germany’s Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig is shaping sharp criticism from the Internet industry. eco – Association of the Internet Industry – warns of a clear violation of European law, massive infringements of fundamental rights and significant additional burdens for infrastructure providers.
“The planned three-month data retention of IP addresses is a severe step backwards into a surveillance logic that was believed to have long been overcome. Despite clear rulings by the ECJ and the Federal Administrative Court, indiscriminate retention remains incompatible with EU law,” explains eco Chair of the Board, Oliver Süme. This makes it all the more incomprehensible that there has been no political debate so far about how the restrictions required by the ECJ in its ruling are to be implemented by companies in practice.
“It is also remarkable that the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) promises a significant increase in investigation success through months-long storage – even though its own BKA study has long shown that beyond four weeks, no additional benefit arises. What remains are considerable legal uncertainty, disproportionate violations of fundamental rights, and foreseeable additional costs of building a useless infrastructure that brings no added value to law enforcement.”
Instead, eco is calling for constitutional and proportionate solutions. “Rather than billions of data mountains without added value and cost-intensive surveillance infrastructure, we need targeted procedures on a case-by-case basis – such as the Quick Freeze model,” Süme continues.
Background
- The coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD provides for a three-month retention of IP addresses.
- In several rulings, the European Court of Justice has set strict limits on the indiscriminate data retention (most recently C-470/21) and has made it clear that it is not compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in its planned form.
- A study commissioned by the BKA itself has shown that a retention period between two to four weeks does not lead to a significant increase in the clearance rate.
eco has published a German-language key issues paper on data retention that details the political, legal and technical implications.
