Dark Days for Germany

Published on Nov 10, 2007 (updated Aug 17, 2024), filed under politics. (Share this post, e.g. on Mastodon or on Bluesky.)

Political articles may not be updated.

Yesterday, on the historically significant November 9, the German government approved a law (PDF, 1,999 KB) that requires telecommunication providers to retain all customer communication data for a period of six months, and allows authorities to gain access to stored communications including telephone calls, text messages, and faxes. The law has been approved without considering arguments and resistance from many organizations and individuals, and without taking into account numerous studies that question the usefulness of such a law.

While the Federal President, Horst Köhler, as well as the Federal Constitutional Court might still prevent the new law from being passed, it suspects every German citizen to be a criminal, to then infringe on their civil rights.

The consequences are far-reaching, and the development raises an important question: Where will this end?

There are so many things to be noted and alarmed about that the impact of this blind—and not popular!—act is so big, it means the darkest chapter of Germany’s post-war history. With this start, there will be no end.

Surveillance does not prevent anything and, quoting Benjamin Franklin, “those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

My fellow countrymen might want use their remaining rights (as long as the Grundgesetz exists) and protest against the new law as well as this development:

• Use the thing on top of your shoulders and open your mouth;
• join data retention initiatives and law suits;
• complain to the government parties CDU, CSU, and SPD;
• go to demonstrations and stand up for the rights of the German people;
• vote, and reconsider your options (I left the CDU in September and now sympathize with the FDP);
• use other legal steps to show your concerns;
• protect your personal data.

Let’s do something to prevent this and other horror scenarios.

My involvement in a few projects doesn’t permit a high post-frequency right now, but I’ll continue to write regularly, maybe on a bi-weekly to monthly basis. The current political development is more important than any problem we face in professional web design though. We need to take action.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you use every day (like Google) and companies you’ve never heard of, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also with respect to politics and philosophy. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my experiences and perspectives. (Please share feedback: Interpret charitably, but do be critical.)