WIkileaks: US Pressures German Internet Privacy

[RLENT]

"The U.S. Government had doubts that the German Free Democratic Party would be a reliable partner in combating terrorism on the Internet, according to cables made public by Wikileaks, and after the elections some officials felt those doubts were vindicated.

The cables, sent from the U.S. embassy in Berlin, were written in September 2009 and January 2010. They outline the general political stance of the FDP, which was for smaller government, less intervention in the markets, and crucially, opposing expanding the power of German law enforcement to monitor citizen's Internet use. [Rlent Editorial Comment: Someone please explain to me why any of that is bad ...... ]

The 2009 cable notes that the FDP opposed the passage of a German law that year that expanded the powers of the German Federal Police (BKA) to conduct remote investigations of computers belonging to serious crime suspects. It was only after the law was amended to include judicial approval of such searches that it was passed.

The cable describes a meeting with Gisela Piltz, who said the new law would turn the BKA into a "super spy agency," and expressed concern over data-sharing agreements with the U.S. FDP head Guido Westerwelle is also said to be unhappy with sharing information on travelers and financial transactions. Westerweele even went so far as to say a plan for U.S. government access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) database of financial transactions was unacceptable.

The cable also notes that Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger was likely to get the job of justice minister - which she eventually did - and would probably scrutinize closely data-sharing agreements between the governments.

At the same time, the U.S. officials said that if the FDP were to gain real government power, the party might be convinced to support more extensive security measures.

That didn't happen. In early 2010 the U.S. embassy said it is urgent that Terrorist Finance Tracking Program and data privacy experts visit Berlin, as "The exaggerated data privacy views of the current minority governing partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), have contributed to a domestic discussion that distorts U.S. policy and is negatively-influencing the European debate."

"Germany has become a difficult partner with regards to security-related information sharing initiatives following the Sept. 27 national elections," the cable says. That election brought the FDP in as a partner in the governing coalition. "At times, the FDP's fixation on data privacy and protection issues looks to have come at the expense of the party forming responsible views on counterterrorism policy."

Original Article:

WIkileaks: US Pressures German Internet Privacy

 

[Turtle]

Smaller government and less intervention in the markets are both good things, I would think. But Germany is over-the-top insane about privacy issues, and that's from where this stems. You can't even get a speeding or red light camera photo of you taken in Germany without everyone in the car's face, except the driver's, being blurred out (lest your passenger over there isn't your wife). It is illegal to publish any photograph of someone without their permission, even if they are in the background of a landmark and are just there in public, nor can you publish someone's name without their permission, which extends to criminals. The most you can publish is initials, unless you have expressed permission. Google Analytics is not allowed there, and Germany is the only country where its citizens can remove their homes and businesses from Google Maps and Google Street View.

The government there has been reluctant to monitor even known criminal activity on the Internet, and court ordered monitoring is hard to obtain, lest they stumble upon something that might be an invasion of privacy, which has had evidence thrown out of court in the past. As a result, Germany has become server farm Kiddie Porn Central and a haven for terrorist and other illegal activities.

The privacy pendulum in Germany needs to swing back a little more towards common sense, in the same way that the pendulum here needs to swing back in the other direction towards the same common sense.

 

[RLENT]

But Germany is over-the-top insane about privacy issues, and that's from where this stems.

Well ..... considering the fact that this was the country that gave the World both the Gestapo and the Stazi ..... mebbe not quite over-the-top-insane .......

 

[Turtle]

Well, understandable, sure, but it's still over the top. It's more of an overreaction than a reaction to correct something.

Personal data privacy is zealously protected throughout most of the EU, much more so than in the US, but no place guards it like Germany. That's why a particular court ruling in Munich sent shock waves around the Internet two years ago when it ruled that an IP address is not afforded the same privacy protections that Internet users enjoy for their names and other personally identifying information, even though a user may have a static IP address which is directly linked to the user alone. Many in Germany are still up in arms over that one, and are now routinely using IP proxies of the type that change your IP address with every mouse click and page view when they are online. IP proxies and IP spoofing is now so common in Germany that it makes the issues in the above article even harder to deal with, even when legal court orders are issued.

Here's an article from the summer, right after the new iPhones came out, that contains some lines that will make you either smile and laugh out loud, or will cause your face to smear into abject horror. Despite Privacy Inquiries, Germans Flock to Google, Facebook and Apple

Is this the foot in the door of no-privacy? Will history repeat itself? Is this the beginning of the end? Does Zest really get you Zestfully clean?