Oliver Süme
Policy & Law

eco Criticises Plans for IP Address Storage: A Step Back into Surveillance?

eco Association warns against recent plans presented for three-month IP storage obligation. eco Chair Oliver Süme sees this as a clear violation of European law, massive infringements of fundamental rights, and offering no real added value for investigations. Rather than billions of data mountains without added value, the association calls for rule-of-law alternatives such as the Quick Freeze model.
date 2025/08/25
press
Digital Policy Between Self-Discovery and Legacy Issues: eco Association Takes Stock of the German Federal Government’s First 100 Days
Policy & Law

Digital Policy Between Self-Discovery and Legacy Issues: eco Association Takes Stock of the German Federal Government’s First 100 Days

The eco Association takes stock of digital policy after 100 days of the new German federal government. Although the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs has fulfilled a long-standing demand of the industry, many core digital projects have not yet crossed the starting line. eco sees urgent need for action, particularly in the areas of AI, data centres, administrative digitisation and data protection. eco also critically evaluates the plans for data retention in the new security package.
date 2025/08/14
press
Oliver Süme
Policy & Law

eco Association on the High-Tech Agenda

eco – Association of the Internet Industry regards the High-Tech Agenda of the Federal Ministry of Education, Research, Technology and Space as an important step towards enabling digital innovations “made in Germany”. With this initiative, the German federal government is sending a strong signal for the country’s future viability and demonstrating its recognition of the importance of digital innovation. The Association particularly welcomes the fact that Artificial Intelligence is identified as the number one key technology in the agenda.
date 2025/07/30
press
eco Association: Five Theses on the 2023 German Digital Policy
Policy & Law

Leaked German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI) Draft Reveals Plans for Mass Surveillance – eco Warns Against Dismantling Constitutional Controls

With the leaked draft of the "Security Package 2.0", the German Federal Ministry of the Interior is planning far-reaching digital surveillance powers – some of which would not be subject to judicial review. eco – Association of the Internet Industry warns against dismantling constitutional safeguards and calls for a reorientation in line with fundamental rights.
date 2025/07/24
press
eco Branchenpuls: Ost-West-Gefälle bei KI Nutzung – unklare Rechtslage und Sicherheitsbedenken sind größte Hürden für Unternehmen 5
Policy & Law

eco Industry Pulse: East-West Divide in AI Use – Unclear Legal Situation and Security Concerns Are the Biggest Hurdles for Companies

Only 10% of respondents to the eco Industry Pulse – a recent survey of IT decision-makers* conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry – believe that Germany is well prepared for upcoming AI developments. Germany also receives poor marks as a digital location: 72% of IT decision-makers in Germany rate the state of digital transformation as poor to very poor. One third even give it a grade of 6.
date 2025/07/21
press
Hurdles for the AI Gigafactory: “Germany is tripping itself up” 1
Datacenter

Competitive Electricity Prices for Data Centres: eco Alliance Welcomes Initiative by Reiche, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy in Germany

Lower electricity costs for data centres mean more growth potential for the German economy – it’s basically a simple calculation. It is good that Reiche, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy in Germany, has recognised the potential of data centres for the German economy and brought it back onto the political agenda in the context of electricity price subsidies.
date 2025/07/08
press