This looks like good news:
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Germany: New basic right to privacy of computer systems
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The German Constitutional Court published on 27 February 2008 a
landmark ruling about the constitutionality of secret online searches
of computers by government agencies. The decision constitutes a new
"basic right to the confidentiality and integrity of
information-technological systems" as derived from the German
Constitution.
The journalist and privacy activist Bettina Winsemann, the politician
Fabian Brettel (Left Party), the lawyer and former federal minister
for
the interior Gerhart Baum (Liberal Party), and the lawyers Julius
Reiter and Peter Schantz had challenged the constitutionality of a
December 2006 amendmend to the law about the domestic intelligence
service of the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia. The amendmend
had introduced a right for the intelligence service to "covertly
observe and otherwise reconnoitre the Internet, especially the covert
participation in its communication devices and the search for these,
as
well as the clandestine access to information-technological systems
among others by technical means" (paragraph 5, number 11). Parts of
the
challenges also addressed other amendmends which are not covered here.
The decision of today is widely considered a landmark ruling, because
it constitutes a new "basic right to the confidentiality and integrity
of information-technological systems" as part of the general
personality rights in the German constitution. The reasoning goes:
"From the relevance of the use of information-technological systems
for
the expression of personality (Pers?nlichkeitsentfaltung) and from the
dangers for personality that are connected to this use follows a need
for protection that is significant for basic rights. The individual is
depending upon the state respecting the justifiable expectations for
the integrity and confidentiality of such systems with a view to the
unrestricted expression of personality." (margin number 181). The
decision complements earlier landmark privacy rulings by the
Constitutional Court that had introduced the "right to informational
self-determination" (1983) and the right to the "absolute protection
of
the core area of the private conduct of life" (2004).
[...]
Constitutional Court Press Release (only in German, 27.02.2008)
http://www.bverfg.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg08-022.html
Constitutional Court Decision (BVerfG, 1 BvR 370/07), (only in German,
27.02.2008)
http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/rs20080227_1bvr037007.html
Video from the announcing the decision:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8630696719785982383&hl=en
Comprehensive press and background coverage (only in German)
http://netzpolitik.org/2008/neues-grundrecht-auf-gewaehrleistung-von-vertra…
Germany's Highest Court Restricts Internet Surveillance (27.02.2008)
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3152627,00.html
The most spied upon people in Europe (27.02.2008)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7265212.stm
(Contribution by Ralf Bendrath - EDRi member Netzwerk Neue Medien)
More at:
http://www.edri.org/edrigram