German police want extended data retention to combat crime

The German Police Union (GdP) want to keep people’s data for a longer period of time, in order to better fight crime.

“Enough with the political dispute, union leader Jochen Kopelke told the Rheinische Post newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday, arguing for a minimum time for data retention.

He lamented that while they could identify and arrest terrorists much more easily, they had been hearing only political disputes for years, adding, I can only shake my head in disbelief.’’

He said the Federal Government and states must now immediately present a joint security strategy.

The union official also urged Federal and State Governments in the Funke Media Group newspapers to end the dispute over the so-called security package of the centre-left coalition.

He asserted that Germany needed a joint security strategy for all security agencies.

Specifically, Kopelke called for a mandatory minimum storage obligation for IP addresses, retention of traffic and location data, cyber defence powers and obligations for providers to cooperate.

He also stressed that more personnel and technology were urgently necessary.

At the same time, he called for European security strategy in the fight against disinformation, terrorism and crime.

On Friday, the Bundestag, or Lower House of Parliament, passed the security package adopted by the ruling coalition after a controversial debate following an August knife attack in Solingen.

Three persons were killed during the knife attack by a suspected member of the terrorist group Islamic State.

But the Bundesrat, or Upper House of Parliament, then stopped the part that would have allowed security authorities to compare biometric data on the internet.