German judges fainthearted on data protection

The German Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that the German regulations on data storage violate the country's constitution, and that the EU guidelines they are based on are not adequately implemented. The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung analyses the ruling: "The judgement is harsh, but not harsh enough. Certainly, it rules that data stored up to now must be deleted, but at the same time it allows data to be extensively stored and relayed in the future. The problem is that on the basis of the dangers set out in the judgement, storing data would have had to be banned altogether. The judges didn't dare take such a step however because that would mean an all-out legal battle with the European Union. ... But the time when conflict can no longer be avoided is just around the corner. ... The upshot is that although the fundamental dangers of data storage have been lessened somewhat, they have not been eliminated. The court knows what a threat to freedom is bundled up in the issue of data storage."

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Heribert Prantl

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, March 3, 2010