Germany Suspends Communication Data Retention Law

Citing security and transparency concerns, the German Federal Constitution Court has suspended the law requiring communication providers and ISPs to retain traffic information for six months for use by law enforcement:

"The judges said the data storage was not secure enough and that it was not sufficiently clear what it would be used for."

The law was implemented to follow an EU Directive aimed at fighting terrorism but the court ordered the suspension until new rules for the storage and use of the data could be implemented:

"The court demanded that stricter conditions be attached to the use and storage of the data, saying it needed to be encoded and that there should be "transparent control" of what the information was used for."

The court additionally ordered all data stored to date to be deleted.

German High Court Limits Phone and E-Mail Data Storage

German Lower House of Parliament Passes New Cyber Investigative Powers

The German lower house of parliament has passed a bill extending search and monitoring capabilities to police in terrorism cases:

"Under the new law, a judge can issue a warrant allowing police the right to spy on a suspect's computer or hard drive, tap their telephone conversations and watch and eavesdrop on their homes."

The upper house still needs to approve the legislation before it becomes law.

German parliament moves to increase police powers

Kurdish Immigrant in Germany Convicted for Promoting Terrorism Online

An unnamed Kurdish immigrant to Germany has been convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for posting files and making statements that supported al-Qaeda leaders.

"The court in the northern German city of Celle convicted him on 22 counts of recruiting on behalf of a non-German terrorist organization, which is a crime under German law.

"Defence lawyers had called for the acquittal of the man, who has Iraqi nationality. Presiding judge Wolfgang Siolek said the verdict sets a legal precedent in Germany, as the first where a person has been jailed for remarks on the internet in support of a foreign terrorist cause.

"The court said the internet postings had the purpose of urging others to join in the jihad, and went well beyond a mere statement of sympathy with al-Qaeda, which would have been protected by free-speech laws and would not have been punishable."

Kurd used internet to urge terrorists on: three years jail

German Court Limits Online Monitoring of Terrorist Suspects

Germany's Constitutional Court released a ruling severely limiting the government's ability to monitor the systems of suspected terrorists:

"The now invalid law in North Rhine-Westphalia had allowed authorities to access a suspect's hard drive and keep it under regular surveillance -- under the condition that they expected to find evidence of anti-constitutional activity.

"Such a massive intrusion should not be possible on such vague grounds, the Karlsruhe court decided. Rather, the state may secretly spy on someone only if there is strong evidence that personal safety, lives, freedom, state property or the foundation of human existence are endangered. And only with permission from a judge."

Opinion: German Politicians Test Citizens' Rights

Germany's Highest Court Restricts Internet Surveillance

Germany Monitoring Increased al-Qaida Activity Online

German officials monitoring Internet traffic have seen an increase in Internet use by al-Qaida supporters:

"We have very clearly seen that al-Qaida increasingly uses the Internet for three components — a massive radicalization, recruiting and the spreading of technical information on how to carry out a terror attack, including construction of explosive devices." [Stefan] Paris [spokesman for Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble] said.

"He added that officials were also seeing a "clear focus on Germany," citing an increase in the number of German-language postings from al-Qaida over the past year."

Germany sees online al-Qaida activity

German Federal Prosecutor Defends Online Survillance of Islamists

Deutsche Welle is reporting on a center in Germany created to monitor the online activity of Islamist groups in Germany:

"[The] Joint Internet Center (GIZ), consisting of about 30 German police and intelligence officers, had been working full time since January, monitoring Islamist activity on the Internet and analyzing Islamist Web sites. "

"The Internet has developed into the decisive means of communication within international Islamist terrorism," [Federal Prosecutor General Monika Harms] said during a press conference in Karlsruhe to review the year."

Top German Prosecutor Backs Online Terror Surveillance

Debate Continues in Germany around Governement Searches of Systems

Heise Online reports on the continuing debate in Germany concerning legislation to make online searches of computers by the government legal.

Currently, the German state of North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has passed legislation to allow state investigators to perform online searches of suspected terrorist systems. The issue is being debated at both state and federal levels of the German government.

"We are pioneers", said leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the NRW government, Peter Biesenbach. "It isn't disgraceful to have the Act investigated by the Constitutional Court". The intelligence agency's means should match those of criminals on the internet. Online searches are also considered indispensable by the Federal German Ministry of the Interior. "

NRW Minister of the Interior: State intelligence agents did not spy on private computers

Germany and Austria Move Forward to Legalize Government Searches of Online Systems

Heisse Online is reporting on both German and Austrian plans to legalize the use of Trojan horses to search the computers of suspected terrorists.

Schäuble renews calls for surreptitious online searches of PCs

Austria plans to start conducting secret online searches in 2008

New Allegations of Chinese Attacks on German Systems

Hans Elmar Remberg, vice president of the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the country's domestic intelligence agency, recently reiterated Germany's concerns that Chinese "hackers" backed by the Chinese government were attacking German computers according to Deutsche Welle.

"Remberg told a conference on industrial espionage in Berlin on Monday that the nature and frequency of the attacks on German companies pointed to a concerted targeting by Chinese hackers backed by the state.

"In our view, state Chinese interests stand behind these digital attacks," said Remberg. "Supporting this view is the intensity, structure and scope of the attacks, and above all the targets, which include [German] authorities and companies."

China Rejects Renewed Accusations of Cyber Spying on Germany

German Trail Opens for "Cyber Jihadist"

This may be one of the first prosecutions in the Western World for posting al Qaeda messages on the Internet. Germany, like most countries, has been slowly tightening and expanding anti-terrorism laws. This case will test the ability of German authorities to limit Islamist activity online.

"The case, experts say, underscores the increasing significance of the role of the Internet in global terrorism. Known to offer everything from sources of terror financing, the sale of chemicals and fertilizers, recruitment of members, to a complete terrorist attack how-to guide, monitoring the Web has long been high on counter-terrorism experts' list."

The article has a good discussion of free speech vs. anti-terrorism efforts.

"Cyber Jihadist" Trial Opens New Front in Anti-Terror Fight

Changes to German Computer Misuse Laws in Wake of Alleged Chinese Computer Attacks

Zone-H.org has an analysis and commentary on the recent changes to German computer misuse laws after complaints that German government systems had been attacked from China.

The full analysis can be read at: Secure Germany