- German Federal Government misjudging legal and technical realities
- Constitutional challenge likely – companies threatened with unnecessary costs running into the millions
- Survey: Almost every second citizen rejects the re-imposition of Blanket Data Retention
eco – the Association of the German Internet Industry expresses strong criticism of the planned law for the reintroduction of Blanket Data Retention. “The draft bill submitted a few days ago is a hasty reaction, and shows that the legislator is misjudging the legal and technical challenges of such groundless and comprehensive data retention,” says Oliver Süme, eco Director of Policy and Law. A law with such far-reaching consequences for both citizens and companies should not be allowed to be finalized so hastily, but rather it requires a careful weighing up of the costs and benefits and the implementability. “The current draft legislation will not be successful at the Federal Constitutional Court, but will rather leave scorched earth in its wake. We call for an appropriate period of time for the urgently required political debate.”
Constitutional challenge likely – companies threatened with unnecessary costs running into the millions
The planned law brings with it a high level of financial risk for the affected companies, as it will require a large investment, but at the same time will in all probability not hold water at the German Federal Constitutional Court or the European Court of Justice. The previous German implementation act, which was declared unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2010, led to unnecessary expenses that ran into the millions for the German telecommunications and Internet companies involved. With the planned new law, costs of implementation of mandatory storage will be even higher in comparison to the old regulation, as the legislator has increased the security standards to correspond to the requirements from the Constitutional Court. An initial estimate of the costs undertaken by eco suggests that they could reach 600 million Euros for the entire industry.
Survey: Almost every second citizen rejects the re-imposition of Blanket Data Retention
The reintroduction of Blanket Data Retention will not only cost money, but will also erode trust. A recent representative survey conducted by the public opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of eco shows that the reintroduction of Blanket Data Retention is not accepted by the public. Almost every second person (46%) is clearly against the re-imposition of Blanket Data Retention. 36 percent see the regulation as a serious violation of fundamental rights. The younger generation in particular are critical of the planned law. More than half (54%) of 18-24 year-olds are against the reintroduction of data retention. More than a quarter (28%) of users surveyed admit to wanting to adapt their communication behavior as soon as the Blanket Data Retention comes into force, and if necessary to move to unmonitored services.
