Provisional decision to block partially the German data retention implementing act

After 30,000 Germans filed a class-action suit, Germany’s constitutional court in Karlsruhe blocked large parts of a new data-collection bill lawmakers say will help stop terror attacks. Opponents say it goes too far. A court in Karlsruhe unplugged a new German data-collection law that would have allowed the government easy access to phone and internet records. Germany’s highest court has dramatically limited the scope of a German data-collection law which politicians said would help prevent terrorist attacks.

The law gave the federal government broad access to stored telephone and internet data — including e-mail addresses, length of call and numbers dialled — for a six-month period. In the case of cell phone calls, service providers could potentially save data on the location calls were made from. The law went into effect in January. But on Wednesday the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe issued an injunction against it, declaring parts of the law unconstitutional pending further review.

The ruling essentially restores the pre-January status quo: Data will still be saved, but authorities will only be allowed to access it under extreme circumstances, and with a warrant. Accessing the data will be allowed only when other avenues of investigation are blocked or hopeless.

Document: http://www.bverfg.de/