CCC, Facebook and Google against the federal government
In an open letter, the Chaos Computer Club, together with Facebook and Google, among others, turned against the federal government. You criticize legislative proposals for more surveillance.
In one open letter 28 companies and organizations criticize the federal government’s plans for state Trojans. They demand strong encryption and the protection of private communications.
The Chaos Computer Club, Facebook and Google, among others, have signed. “There are only a few legislative proposals where everyone simply agrees that they are very bad ideas,” comments the CCC the open letter.
Contents
Monitoring encrypted communications
The background to this are two planned legislative proposals. For one thing, it should Constitutional protection law to be reformed and allow secret services to use state Trojans. The monitoring should start at the end device before messages are encrypted, so that encrypted communication would no longer be protected from monitoring.
With the new Federal Police Act, the Federal Police should also be able to tap private telecommunications if the person concerned poses a threat to public safety or if there is a risk of a criminal offense in the near future. It has to be according to the draft also apply to those who communicate with the suspect.
“Company as an extension of the secret service”
In the planned reform of the constitutional protection law, the signatories particularly criticize the planned obligation for companies to cooperate. This would therefore “make companies the extended arm of the intelligence services and put cybersecurity at risk.”
Strengthen encrypted communication
The expansion of telecommunications surveillance threatens the security of digital communications and cybersecurity in general, argue the organizations and companies.
Instead of weakening encryption, the protection of private and professional communication should therefore be strengthened. Encrypted communication is an important tool for civil society organizations, journalism, private individuals and IT companies.
The signatories of the open letter are calling on the federal government not to push through the legislative proposals as quickly as possible, but rather to enter into a dialogue with civil society and companies.
