The German Association of Judges was pleased with the plans Longer storage of IP addresses for law enforcement purposes shown. “The security transition promised by the black-red coalition is taking shape,” said DRB federal managing director Sven Rebehn.
He is convinced that the draft presented by Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) meets the requirements of the European Court of Justice for the storage of IP addresses.
The draft published by the Federal Ministry of Justice requires internet providers to retain the data for three months so that investigators can access it to solve a crime. The main aim is to find people who spread depictions of sexual abuse of children or young people, as well as to investigate online fraud and hate crime on the Internet. Which websites someone surfed or which online services they used should not be recorded.
Lawyers’ association criticizes “mass surveillance”
Those too independent abuse officers Kerstin Claus welcomed the plans. “The Ministry of Justice’s bill for longer storage of IP addresses is a long overdue measure in the fight against sexual abuse,” Claus told the KNA news agency. The IP address is often the only key to uncovering perpetrators and their networks and freeing children from acute situations of abuse. Studies have shown that storing data for just a few weeks can significantly increase the success rate.
The German Lawyers’ Association criticized the plans. Managing Director Sylvia Ruge said: “The new name cannot hide the fact that IP storage is also data retention.” This unfounded “mass surveillance” is a severe encroachment on civil rights.
Already in Coalition agreement The Union and the SPD had agreed on the longer storage of IP addresses. The previous regulation on data retention had not been used since 2017 due to legal uncertainties. The traffic light government had also considered new regulations. However, the project failed because the coalition partners could not come to an agreement; The FDP in particular was against an obligation to store IP addresses.
Critic of the Data retention fear an erosion of fundamental rights.
