eco Criticises Draft Law on Data Retention Presented by Hesse

The agreement reached by the traffic light coalition on the so-called quick freeze procedure for Internet investigations is met with a counter-proposal in the German Federal Council (Bundesrat). In it, the Hessian state government reaffirms its intention to present its own draft law on data retention.

The black-red government in Hesse is thus implementing a plan from the coalition agreement to introduce an obligation to retain IP addresses regardless of suspicion. Minister President Boris Rhein (CDU) and Justice Minister Christian Heinz (CDU) presented an initiative to this effect on 19 April. According to the proposal, providers are to retain Internet identifiers for one month without cause. Law enforcement and security authorities such as the State Office for the Bundesverfassungsschutz (BfV), the domestic intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany, would be able to access this data, primarily for combatting serious crime and terrorism. However, the draft also provides for the prosecution of less serious Criminal offences.

While the German federal government has just agreed on the quick-freeze approach to freeze connection and location data for criminal prosecution in case of suspicion, the Federal Minister of the Interior and Community, Nancy Faeser (SPD), who hails from Hesse, continues to support the retention of IP addresses.

For eco, the current developments regarding the quick freeze procedure are a step in the right direction. However, they regret that the German federal government has not yet made a consistent effort to abolish data retention. Should this continue or be continued under a new name, whether at state or federal level, it would be fatal. It is time for the government to take its responsibility and seriously protect civil rights in the digital space. The Association of the Internet Industry calls for a clear and comprehensive abolition of data retention to guarantee citizens' privacy. It is also essential that affected companies are quickly given clarity on the planned new regulations and data retention to avoid legal uncertainty.