http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/83556
New anti-terrorism law goes into effect With the publication <http://www.bgblportal.de/BGBL/bgbl1f/bgbl107s0002.pdf> of the Supplementary <http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/75059> Anti-Terrorism Act in the German Gazette today, the German government's controversial new measures to combat terrorism have taken effect. This Act expands and extends the authority created <http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/11/11539/1.html> for the secret services after September 11, 2001. The Constitution Office, the Federal Intelligent Agency (BND), and the Federal Armed Forces Counterintelligence Office (MAD) will now all be able to collect information from airlines, banks, postal firms, and telecommunications and teleservice companies. And they can do so not only when investigating suspected terrorists, but also when investigating "unconstitutional efforts" within Germany. For instance, the use of the IMSI <http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/79478> catcher to monitor mobile communications has been greatly expanded. The Secret Services may also conduct covert investigations within the Schengen information system. The services that have a right to collect information will now have a much easier time getting it from the private sector. In particular, Article 10 of the German constitution, which stipulates that a ministerial order is required with the consent of the G10 commission in the German parliament, has been restricted, making it easier for the Secret Services to get information from airlines and banks, for instance. However, the Secret Services still have to report to the parliamentary oversight commission. Furthermore, the prerequisites for the acquisition of connection and traffic data from postal companies, telecommunications firms, and teleservice providers have been extended to include additional cases of violence. Now, the investigations must concern attempts to disturb basic democratic liberty or the existence or security of the federal government or the country or attempts to illegally obstruct the operations of constitutional organizational units at the federal or state level or the work that its members perform. Furthermore, the secret services can obtain data about vehicles and vehicle owners automatically from the record books. The new Supplementary Act also provides a legal foundation for a comprehensive test <http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/81777> for the inclusion of fingerprints <http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/82845> in electronic passports. Germany's Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said he was pleased that this new authority had been granted; the grand coalition passed the bill <http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/81859> at the beginning of December in the German parliament. "Now that the Supplementary Anti-Terrorism Act has gone into effect, it will be much easier to track down and prosecute terrorists," the CDU politician explained. "We have created a reasonable legal foundation adapted to the work that the authorities do to allow them to perform their job effectively and in compliance with the Constitution. We also streamlined a few bureaucratic procedures." At the same time, Schäuble argued that the legislature had not breached "the core privacy of citizens, whose security is our prime concern." Schäuble emphasized that the authority granted by the first two anti-terror laws had "helped us trace terrorist structures and terrorist environments." For instance, Schäuble said the laws had allowed the government to ban Al Aqsa, which was collecting money for Hamas. In contrast, Germany's Data Protection Officer Peter Schaar fears that the data archives held by telecommunications firms and travel companies will be "accessed much more often" now that the German parliament's G10 Commission no longer has to give its consent. He also said he was concerned about "various secret services now being able to acquire telecommunications access data." Furthermore, he complained that the recently expanded authority of security officials was not seriously reviewed before the new ones were created. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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