Head of German Criminal Police calls for expansion of data retention laws

The head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has called for the country’s controversial data retention laws to be expanded to enable police to crack down harder on child pornography online, reported the German business publication WirtschaftsWoche. Holger Muench, the president of the BKA, said that authorities in Germany were unable to investigate suspects in 8,400 child pornography cases last year because the appropriate data was not available to them. 

While German authorities receive "several thousand" tips on potential cases from countries like the US each year, police cannot follow up on these leads as information, such as which particular computer was behind an IP address at the time of a crime, is no longer stored in Germany, Muench said. In 9 out of 10 cases, the IP address is essential for determining where a criminal act originated, he added. 

Germany’s data retention laws require telecoms companies, internet and other access providers to store customer metadata for up to 10 weeks in case they need to be used in eventual law enforcement efforts. The data to be stored include IP addresses, telephone numbers and the location when sending an SMS.
Opposition parties, NGOs and industry associations have criticized Germany’s data retention laws for violating Germany’s constitution as well as EU law. The Federal Network Agency opted not to enforce these laws after a lower court in Germany ruled the laws violated EU law. 

The BKA is also calling for police to have the ability to surveil encrypted messaging services like Whatsapp under certain circumstances. Muench said this would be for "extreme individual cases" concerning terror suspects or organized crime rather than the fight against child pornography or an "instrument of mass surveillance".