The ruling parties in Germany agreed on amendments to expand the powers of the intelligence services. The most sensitive situation concerns the federal intelligence service BND: it is proposed to allow secret entry into residential premises. Such a measure affects not only the intelligence work, but also the limits of privacy.
The second block of changes concerns communication data. The operators will be required, at the request of the departments, to temporarily save information on telephone connections and user activity on the Internet. The information will be kept until the completion of the legal procedures necessary to transfer it to intelligence.
The amendments still remain a legislative initiative agreed upon by the ruling parties, and not an existing authority. If accepted, the intelligence will receive two different tools: the possibility of covert access to the house and the preservation of digital traces until the formality of their transfer. It is the combination of these measures that makes the reform particularly sensitive to civil liberties.