Germany Implements Sweeping Data Retention Policies

G'Quann writes "Starting next year, all communication providers in Germany will have to store all connection data for six months. This includes not only phone calls but also IP addresses and e-mail headers. There had been a lot of protest against the new law, but it was ignored by the government. Quoting: 'The content of the communications is not stored. The bill had been heavily criticized. Privacy [advocates] had organized demonstrations against the bill in all major German cities at the beginning of this week. In October there had already been a large demonstration with thousands of participants in Germany's capital Berlin. All opposition parties voted against the bill. Several members of the opposition and several hundred private protesters announced a constitutional complaint.'"

Comments

Re:At least they saw it coming

[dmeranda]

Translated into non-liberal speak for the rest of us:

"Before we in the U.S. get to patting ourselves on the back for not being this bad,...

Before any non-liberal lurking on /. might get to discussing how bad the Germans are,

consider the story just two posts down

lets divert negative attention back on the U.S. where it belongs by cherrypicking a reference to a different story

that discusses how this is probably already being done here with no one's knowledge or consent.

which can further the liberal agenda of bashing the U.S. by inventing hypothetical FUD based on hearsay

I say "probably" because no one really knows.

It's just as likely as the Bush administration's torture being done to those illegal space aliens in Area 51 (I meant "undocumented space workers").

No laws passed, no protests staged (hard to protest something you don't even know about),

although the Bushies are covering it all up, so take my word for it

just government silently doing whatever it wants after slapping a "national security" label on it.

And we all know it's possible to prove any conspiracy theory intended to show how evil the U.S. is because the only two words we ever take out of context are "national security".

It's not right in Germany, and it's not right here.

Again, let's keep this discussion about a German event focused on the U.S. Kay?

The difference is that at least in Germany, this type of gross invasion of privacy happened on the public record and they can react and do something about it now.

Now for the real punch. The U.S. is even more evil because it hasn't passed a law requiring invasion of privacy.

Of course, we in the U.S.

Of course, we liberals stuck in the U.S. amist all those crazy Bushbots

can do something about it too,

should protest and generally blame the U.S. for anything

but most people won't get worked up over what government might be doing without it being proven true,

we don't know why most people don't believe wild theories which have no factual basis, I mean, if it shows the U.S. is evil why do they want proof?

and our government is mercilessly exploiting that fact right now

they never show mercy or restraint, all they do is all-out starve and exploit children and harm the planet!

by keeping everything secret and implying that anyone who thinks otherwise is some kind of kooky conspiracy theorist

by having the nerve to call conspiracy theorists "conspiracy theorists". I mean, that's like calling terroists "terrorists". Remember too, it's "undocumented worker", not "illegal alien".

(while they spy on them to make sure they don't get too far out of line).

I've got to go, I just spotted some black helicopters.

Re:At least they saw it coming

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the JEWS, stupid. The JEWS need to silence their critics - in other words - anybody who tells the TRUTH about the stranglehold that the Jews have over their white 'cattle'... The internet gives us all a chance to tell the truth about our Jewish masters, and they don't want that...
Watch 'One Third of the Holocaust' for a start, and then remind yourself that everything you've ever read or seen in the media, and every book that you've ever read, was controlled by JEWS.

Oh, and I forgot: they call themselves 'God's chosen people'. How very modest.
And they sexually mutilate all of their male children - because 'God told them to do it'.
Now, since 'God' doesn't exist, who was the first sick fucker who decided one day, thousands of years ago, "I want to cut that newborn baby's penis up a bit, and suck it"? A JEW. And WHO allowed him to commit these atrocities, on a daily basis, to their OWN CHILDREN? Other JEWS.

Re:At least they saw it coming

[haakondahl]

I'm more afraid of my own government today than I've ever been of terrorists.

You are like an infant, a child, a spoiled brat who hates the house his parents provide and wants to run away to somewhere, anywhere, the whole world must be better than this Hell you call a home. But you never leave. You stay. Why is that?

The reason you have no fear of terrorists is that you have never lived in an Islamist country. You have no idea what you are talking about. You never had a sister dragged off to a soccer stadium *by the government* to be executed while people cheered. Etc.

You're more afraid of the United States government than the terrorists? Then Go, in the name of God, GO! We'll see how long your capacity for ingratitude lasts when you realize how much you lost in leaving.

/Sorry, I just couldn't let that go.