

Response to NSA scandal: German Government moves away from data retention - lukashed
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/nsa-skandal-cdu-und-csu-geben-vorratsdatenspeicherung-auf-a-909560.html#submit

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fforw
Not really. They have been supporters for "Vorratsdatenspeicherung" / "stock
data saving" / data retention for quite some time and now realize that the
populace is not amused by the NSA shenanigans.

So in their infinite wisdom, they replaced it with "Mindestspeicherfristen" /
"minimum storage limit" / data retention.

~~~
eliasmacpherson
A lot of US users seem to be under the impression that the EU is much better
at protecting privacy. In some ways it is, and in other ways it is not.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Retention_Directive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Retention_Directive)

This has been in force since 2006. The storage is required by law.

"member states will have to store citizens' telecommunications data for six to
24 months stipulating a maximum time period. Under the directive the police
and security agencies will be able to request access to details such as IP
address and time of use of every email, phone call and text message sent or
received. A permission to access the information will be granted only by a
court."

~~~
terhechte
One big difference, though, is that this does not happen in secret. Everybody
knows about it, and the member states can decide to implement it. Thus the
voter could even (in theory) vote for a party that pleads to not implement
said directive.

Though I think, again, the biggest difference is that it did not happen in
secrecy but in a open and more democratic manner.

~~~
dvdkhlng
Also, the collection has to be implemented by each communication company
itself (as opposed to by the police or secret service), so no central storage
of data and no easy data-mining and network-building across the data sets of
indviduals.

And you have all the usual data protection rights like requesting a full copy
of all stored data from each company. In theory you should also always be
informed afterwards when your data was retrieved due to a warrant.

That said, I'm still very much against this kind of data collection. Data
protection starts at data parsimony. And you never know who'll have access and
who watches the watchers etc.

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LinaLauneBaer
Google's translation of the abstract is a bit off. It is missing an important
sentence.

Translation from Google:

    
    
      For years, the CDU and CSU have fought for the 
      retention - now they want nothing more to know. 
      Under the impact of the NSA spying scandal they
      replace the bad word in the election program.
    

My translation:

    
    
      Election year in Germany: Horst Seehofer, leader 
      of the CSU party has devoted himself to data 
      privacy protection. He is even thinking about moving 
      away from data detention to fight crimes. Leading 
      interior politicians from the (much bigger) sister 
      party (CDU) are irritated.
    

The fact that many politicians from the bigger sister party is important IMHO.
Without the CDU the CSU is just marginally above 5%. Of course it is somewhat
surprising to see the CSU announcing this. The CSU is considered more pro
surveillance and data retention than the CDU. The CSU can only be voted for in
Bavaria. People in Bavaria tend to be more conservative. The CSU get usually
more than 50% of the votes in Bavaria. The CDU can be voted for in every other
state - except in Bavaria. The CDU and CSU form a "bigger party" and call
themselves "Union". It is not seen as a much more volatile coalition between
let's say the FDP and CDU/CSU. CDU/CSU win together and loose together.

------
speedracr
Incorrectness of linked article's headline was pointed out already. Also, this
is not the "German Government", it's the CDU/CSU conservative party's election
agenda. Yes, they are the party of the chancellor, but it's obvious that a
whole ton of proposals buried in the election agenda never see the light of
day despite the party winning a majority and having the Chancellor elect. So
even IF the CDU/CSU decided to move away from data retention in their election
agenda, it would remain to be seen if this translated into actual laws. And
since they didn't even move away...

------
lukashed
Here's the official directive: [http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:...](http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32006L0024:EN:HTML)

------
mtgx
Good thing elections are coming soon. Merkel must be freaking out about it,
and willing to do anything.

~~~
threeseed
Yes. Privacy policies are absolutely a top consideration for most voters.

Definitely not jobs, minimum wage or the perilous state of the EU countries.

~~~
manmal
Well privacy policy is something people consider to be actually in the hands
of politicians, while promises of job security are eyed suspiciously
(rightfully). If by perilous states you mean Greece, Italy, Spain - do you
really think German voters give a damn?

~~~
wwhitman
I think he was being sarcastic.

~~~
flyinRyan
It seems to me like the GP got that and responded appropriately.

