The federal police should not be allowed to use state Trojans. The factions of the governing coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed on this after long arguments, reports the FAZ. In contrast to the previous black-red coalition, the police should not be allowed to install state malware directly on a suspect’s end device in order to copy data before encryption or after decryption (telecommunications surveillance at the source, source TKÜ).
Actually, the coalition agreement is clear here. It says: “We are amending the Federal Police Act without the authority to TKÜ sources and online searches”. Nevertheless, according to the report, the Federal Ministry of the Interior urged “to go further at this point”.
In June 2021, the Bundestag already approved a draft amendment to the Federal Police Act. This contained permission to use state Trojans. The prosecutors should be able to access communication that runs via encrypted services such as WhatsApp, Signal or Threema. However, the Federal Council did not approve the initiative a short time later. Above all, he rubbed himself against the associated wide cuts in the competences of the state police. Former Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) wanted to allow biometric face recognition in addition to the license for secret online searches and source TKÜ. However, the SPD has reservations about the latter, so the compromise came down to the source TKÜ. The Greens and FDP then vetoed this, with reference to the coalition agreement.
Receipt for identity checks
Should be revised with the current start laut does the regulations for collecting and evaluating inventory, usage and traffic data. As early as March 2021, the federal and state governments agreed in the Mediation Committee on corrections to a controversial draft law, which is intended to adapt the rules for inventory data disclosure to the requirements of the Federal Constitutional Court of 2020. This means that not only the Federal Criminal Police Office but also the Federal Police can request passwords from telemedia services such as WhatsApp, eBay, Facebook, Gmail, YouTube or Tinder in the fight against serious crimes.
The domestic politicians of the government alliance also agreed on a clause against racial profiling, writes the FAZ. This is intended to give police forces a legally secure basis for checks without the suspicion that they are being carried out solely on the basis of external characteristics. However, a corresponding appearance should not stand in the way of a review if experience or current events make it appear appropriate. In return, verified persons can receive a control receipt if they request it. This is intended to document the course of an identity check without placing police work under general suspicion.
Germany defaults on data protection
Time is of the essence when it comes to the reform: the EU Commission initiated infringement proceedings against Germany last year because it had still not fully implemented the 2016 EU directive on data protection for the police and judiciary. The reason for this is the lack of specifications for the Federal Police. Therefore, the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Ulrich Kelber can only object to data protection violations there, effective enforcement powers are lacking.
The SPD interior expert Sebastian Hartmann explained that the government departments had got stuck in the long-planned reform and that the parliamentary groups had now found a solution themselves. The Greens are talking about a “directional decision for the modernization of the Federal Police,” and the FDP is talking about an agreement that will strengthen the freedom and security of citizens in equal measure.
(ds)
