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This seems to largely be a non-story, actually. What it does say is that the NSA provided the German BND with the technology for its international dragnet sear
by rbehrends 13y ago
This seems to largely be a non-story, actually.
What it does say is that the NSA provided the German BND with the technology for its international dragnet search program.
However, that program is not and has never been secret. Its basic functioning is spelled out precisely in §5 through §8 of the G10 Act [1]. This law is hardly uncontroversial, but it is not as though anybody can claim to have been surprised by it; its provisions are well known and frequently and hotly debated.
Regarding information-sharing with the NSA: The law allows the result of §5 surveillance only to be shared with foreign agencies under the conditions of §7a and §8. In particular, this means that all such information sharing has to be reported to the parliamentary commission and the commission has to inform the public about the amount of information sharing that occurred. For 2009-2011 (2011 is the year covered by the most recent report) no such information sharing was reported to have occurred.
Now, if the BND broke that law and shared information with the NSA without telling the parliamentary commission, then this would surprise just about nobody. But that's not what the Spiegel is talking about.
The part that is potentially interesting is the NSA establishing a new "Consolidated Intelligence Center" in Wiesbaden (to replace a similar center in Darmstadt).
[1] http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/g10_2001/ http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/g10_2001/
- kimlelly 13y ago> The part that is potentially interesting is the NSA establishing a new "Consolidated Intelligence Center" in Wiesbaden (to replace a similar center in Darmstadt). "potentially interesting"...? If I were German, I would burn that thing to the ground, right now. I call such a thing the worst type of tax-payer funded cancers. How is such a thing allowed to exist? EDIT: To me that's kind of like the start of bringing the Nazi past back to Germany/Europe. You know, that thing a good chunk of US citizens had to fight and die because of it, a few years back.
- sentenza 13y agoYes, but now there is new proof, spelled out in clear German, and in a major newspaper on top of that. The fact that a new NSA facility is being built near Wiesbaden, considering how unpopular the one in Griesheim is, looks like it has enough to it to be its own little scandal.
- thomasjames 13y agoWhy is it only bad when the BND works with the NSA? If it is just intercepting all day to flow across Germany's borders via DE-CIX it is potentially equally problematic.
- kimlelly 13y agoThe problem that makes this case even more dangerous is that the US and Germany are 2 distinct and independent political entities. Well, not any longer. The US has started owning Germany. If there is no real push back now, we should just go ahead and merge officially and be done with it.
- thomasjames 13y agoMy comment was more along the lines that only being angry when one country does it is very thinly veiled nationalism.
- kimlelly 13y agoI agree, there is absolutely no room left for nationalism anymore. The situation is so f##ked up that all citizens of all concerned countries will have to band together and let our respective governments clearly know that this will not continue.
- rbehrends 13y agoBecause the G10 Act contains safeguards that the BND is required to adhere to, but the NSA isn't. - The BND has to immediately delete all records except the ones that are relevant for an enumerated set of purposes and has to document this deletion. Per the parliamentary commission's reports [1], the remaining messages are generally a few hundred annually. - The BND can only share them with law enforcement for the prevention and prosecution of an enumerated list of serious crimes. Using them for other purposes it not allowed, and evidence obtained as the result of such illegally shared information is to be excluded by the courts [2]. - The BND has to notify anybody whose messages have not been deleted immediately that some of their telecommunication has been intercepted. This has to occur within 12 months, unless the G10 commission authorizes a deferral of the notification. The annual report of the parliamentary commission lists how many people were and were not notified. The BND is subject to these constraints, the NSA isn't. Furthermore, if the BND breaks the law, remedies are available; Germany does not have any recourse against NSA actions. [1] E.g.: http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/17/127/1712773.pdf http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/17/127/1712773.pdf [2] BGH, 2 Str 731/79. http://www.ejura-examensexpress.de/online-kurs/entsch_show_neu.php?Alp=1&dok_id=5796 http://www.ejura-examensexpress.de/online-kurs/entsch_show_n...
- kimlelly 13y ago> This seems to largely be a non-story, actually. Personally, I'm beginning to understand why Edward Snowden was ready to be tortured and die.