Whatsapp - Page 5 of 12

User loss: Facebook postpones changes to terms and conditions on WhatsApp

After the WhatsApp alternatives such as Signal or Telegram reported a massive increase in users in the past few days, Facebook is now also reacting and moving the introduction of the new terms and conditions for the time being. As the company announced, the new data protection regulations only apply from 15. May 2021. Originally, these should apply to all users from February 8th 2021. The social media platform would like to use the additional time to adequately educate users about the changes.

The planned exchange between Messenger and Facebook is particularly daunting at the moment. Here one has already countered and Niamh Sweeney, Director of Policy at Whatsapp, published a statement on Twitter. The manager made it clear that nothing should change in Europe. However, the majority of users should by no means trust such statements.

Thus, the topic of data protection seems to be currently in society. At the moment, the number of users for both Signal and Telegram is still far from reaching WhatsApp’s level. Around two billion people are currently using this service. In second place is Facebook Messenger with a total of 1.3 billion registered users. In the recent past, Telegram only broke the 320 million mark.

Should the Social -Media platform, however, continue as before, the user base should continue to shrink. As soon as advertisements appear on WhatsApp, other users are likely to turn away. In addition, the service could become less and less attractive for Facebook. Ultimately, the company finances itself through the marketing of personal data and the insertion of advertisements.

Signal is also experiencing a massive onslaught of new users

With the planned changes to the terms and conditions at WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg has once again scored an own goal. After Telegram had already broken the 500 million mark of active users, Signal also recorded a massive increase in users. However, this has the consequence that the servers at the Signal Foundation are reaching their limit. Last weekend there were even server failures. For this reason, some messages could not be sent. However, those responsible have already announced via Twitter that the infrastructure has been expanded and will now be able to cope better with the onslaught of users. Signal also emphasized that the encrypted content of the messenger was never compromised.

So you can be curious whether the increase in users on the messenger alternatives continues and we will say goodbye to the data octopus Whatsapp in the long run. Ultimately, the Facebook service does not offer a unique selling point compared to other messengers. WhatsApp has such high user numbers only because of its widespread use. However, as soon as an equivalent or even better alternative also enjoys a strong reach, WhatsApp should be tight.

Mark Zuckerberg and his social media platform have been criticized for a long time and have not managed in recent years to prove to the public that the security of user data is paramount Place.

Messenger signal: servers are groaning under new load

The massive influx of new users has caused technical difficulties for the operators of the Signal messenger. This emerges from a series of tweets, and quite a few (new) users of the messenger will be able to understand this themselves. A few hours ago it finally said on Twitter: “Signal is back!”

Signal was initially confirmed on Friday “technical difficulties”, the service should be restored as soon as possible. Yesterday, Saturday, it was said that Signal would also bring additional capacities online as soon as possible in order to be able to handle the data traffic.

Error messages Now the service has been restored, but as a side effect of the server failures, users can see an error message: “invalid encrypted message”. Signal assures that the chats are still safe, but users may not have received a message from a contact. A future update of the app should fix the problem.

If you get the error message on Android, tap on the menu at the top right of the app and then on “Secure Session reset to default”. On iOS, click on the “Reset session” button under “Received message was not synchronized”.

At the moment, many smartphone users are switching from WhatsApp to Signal because the service enforces consent to its new privacy policy, which states that data will be passed on to other Facebook services. The possibility of passing on applies with the restriction that these may not be used for advertising, but for analysis purposes. WhatsApp originally gave its users the ultimatum to agree to the new terms of use by February 8, but the Facebook subsidiary has now postponed the date. (anw)

Signal is back after an outage that lasted more than 24 hours

After experiencing technical difficulties Friday, the Signal messaging app appears to be back up and running. The company tweeted Saturday night that it was “back,” although added that some users may still see error messages in their chats. The company didn’t explain what caused the outage.

Signal is back! Like an underdog going through a training montage, we’ve learned a lot since yesterday — and we did it together. Thanks to the millions of new Signal users around the world for your patience. Your capacity for understanding inspired us while we expanded capacity. pic.twitter.com/cRNV8kVtdF

— Signal (@signalapp) January 17, 2021

For users still be seeing error messages in their chats — which the company said was a “side effect” of the outage that began around 11:30AM ET Friday— Signal tweeted that those messages do not affect security, rather that you may have missed a message from another user. This will be fixed in the next app updates, the company said.

It offered two fixes if users want to clear the error messages manually: On Android, tap the menu in the top-right corner and choose “reset secure session.” For iOS users of Signal tap the “reset session” button located below “received message was out of sync.”

On Android if you see “Bad encrypted message,” tap the menu in the top-right & tap “Reset secure session.” On iOS tap the “Reset Session” button below “Received message was out of sync.” The errors do not affect chat security & will be automatically fixed in the next app update. pic.twitter.com/dgLGLZS3zB

— Signal (@signalapp) January 17, 2021

Signal allows secure and encrypted video, voice, and text communication, and in the past weeks has seen a surge of new users to its app, after CEO Elon Musk tweeted his recommendation, and as rival service WhatsApp unveiled a confusing new privacy policy, which it’s now pushed back several months.

During the outage, the Signal tweeted that it was “working as quickly as possible to bring additional capacity online to handle peak traffic levels.”

The company did not immediately reply to an request from The Verge for further comment on Sunday.

WhatsApp is postponing the introduction of the new data protection rules

WhatsApp is postponing the introduction of the new data protection rules after criticism and a churn of users by a good three months. So far you should agree to the new conditions by February 8th if you wanted to continue using the chat service belonging to Facebook. Now the new data protection guideline should only be dated 15. May apply as WhatsApp announced on Friday.

Better communication with companies According to a WhatsApp blog post, the changes are primarily about creating better ways to communicate with companies. The so-called end-to-end encryption, with which chat content is only visible to the participating users, but not even to WhatsApp itself in plain text, will not be shaken. There are also no plans to forward data to Facebook. Outside the EU, some WhatsApp user data flows to Facebook for advertising purposes or to improve products – however, since the year 2016.

WhatsApp is the world’s most successful chat service with more than two billion users, followed by Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion). In the past few weeks, WhatsApp rivals such as Telegram, Signal or Threema had reported a strong increase – because users left WhatsApp after the announcement of the new data protection policy. WhatsApp complained about the spread of false information about the changes, which they want to clear up by mid-May. However, there was no question of taking back something from the planned changes and the data transfer.

The goal is to make money The fact that WhatsApp should also become a channel for communication between companies and their customers has been a central idea for some time as to how Facebook could ultimately earn money with the chat service. The online network bought WhatsApp in the year 2014 for around 22 billion dollars. Another consideration was advertising in the so-called status area of the app, where users can post photos for their contacts for a day. But this was put on hold.

The founders of WhatsApp, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, left Facebook a few years ago. According to media reports, there were differences of opinion with Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. Acton is a central donor for the Signal app – which uses the same encryption technology as WhatsApp. After the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Acton joined calls to leave Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg also introduced the plan to Facebook some time ago to focus more on completely encrypted communication overall. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram’s chat function will also share a technical platform. The US government and more than 40 states are currently calling for Facebook to be broken up by splitting off WhatsApp and Instagram. A common technical infrastructure would make such projects more difficult.

(tiw)

WhatsApp and privacy: no longer 8 February, the new rules postponed

With an official statement WhatsApp communicates having postponed the date to accept the new privacy terms

by Rosario Grasso published 16 January 2021 , at 08: 51 in the Telephony channel

WhatsappFacebook

There continues to be a lot of concern about recent communications on the change of WhatsApp privacy rules and increased integration with Facebook. WhatsApp in recent days had repeatedly tried to reassure users on the sharing of their data through the app of WhatsApp, but has now decided to make an even more peremptory decision, postponing from February 8 to 15 May the entry into force of the new rules on privacy .

WhatsApp, new privacy rules: from 8 February to 15 May

“We are aware that our recent update has created a bit of confusion. Given that the circulation of incorrect and not truthfully caused concern, we want to clarify and make sure that everyone understands the principles on which we are based “ reads the official website of WhatsApp .

“We have postponed the date on which we will require our users to review and accept the terms. On February 8, no accounts will be suspended or deleted. We will continue to work to clarify incorrect information regarding security and privacy on WhatsApp. Gradually, and according to the timing of each, we will invite our users to review the information before 15 May, when the new business options will be available “.

WhatsApp refers to the fact that a account suspension could take place if the new terms are not accepted After the first communications, also as the company rightly points out in this blog post, some false information on the network had led users to believe that the Facebook account is mandatory in order to use WhatsApp . WhatsApp had categorically rejected this hypothesis.

The real problem that lies behind this situation, if anything, is another, and it is more far-reaching. the ability of modern social networks to instill themselves in people’s lives ed i shape their thinking , with important consequences on society and politics. A pervasive integration between the three social networks in the hands of Facebook would create anti-competitive conditions that are to be avoided in the United States, as well as in Europe.

Regarding latest update of WhatsApp is still pointed out on the official blog as the changes introduced “concern new optional options available to users who wish to communicate with companies on WhatsApp and offers greater transparency on how we collect and use data. At the moment the use of WhatsApp to make purchases it is not widespread. However, we believe it is important that you are aware of this service, because in the future more and more users will choose to use it. We would like to reiterate that this update does not increase our ability to share information with Facebook “.

Finally, WhatsApp rightly remarks that it ?? contributed to the spread of end encryption -to-end worldwide ?? , and ensures that ?? continue to work to defend this security technology both today and in the future ?? .

The security billing: WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal? | uplink # 36.2

The weekly c’t podcast c’t uplink is available …

This uplink sequence about messenger security is also explicitly aimed at non-nerds – at least in the first 20 For a few minutes, we try not to stir too much in technical details; you can also send the link to this uplink to your in-laws.

Among others, Eva-Maria Weiß, Sylvester Tremmel, Jürgen Schmidt and Jan-Keno Janssen clarify the following questions: What about WhatsApp – GTC change on yourself? How do Signal and Telegram differ? Who is behind the messengers? Why are there so big differences in speed and functionality (animated stickers!)? Why does something like cross-messenger communication not catch on?

Which messengers are GDPR compliant? What about Threema, Wire and Matrix? Which is safer, Threema or Signal? How does end-to-end encryption work? What about the metadata on WhatsApp? Why is Signal often unreliable? What is to be made of Telegram’s promise that the data are in different data centers in different jurisdictions and therefore hackers and employees cannot access the data?

We also talk about Messenger politics: How US-centric is Signal? Is Telegram in danger of being thrown out of the app stores because of radical chat groups? Why did Telegram recently start deleting groups? What does WhatsApp know about me?

Also there: Jan-Keno Janssen, Jürgen Schmidt, Sylvester Tremmel and Eva-Maria Weiß .

The c’t 03 / 2021 is available at the kiosk, in the browser and in the c’t app for iOS and Android .

Article to the shipment:

Communicate securely and confidentially, c’t 3 / 2021, S. 50 All previous episodes of our podcast can be found at www.ct.de/uplink.

(jkj)

WhatsApp moves forwards the date to accept its new terms to May 15

WhatsApp has announced that it is moving forward the date to accept its new terms and conditions to May 15. The previous date for this was February 8.

The company says this is due to all the confusion and misinformation around their latest update and that they are going to use the time to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. They will then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before May 15.

Thank you to everyone who’s reached out. We’re still working to counter any confusion by communicating directly with @WhatsApp users. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on Feb 8 and we’ll be moving back our business plans until after May – https://t.co/H3DeSS0QfO

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) January 15, 2021

Earlier this month, WhatsApp started popping up its new terms and privacy policy screen when you launched the app. The screen asked users to click Agree and accept the new terms, which will take effect on February 8. You could dismiss the popup but you would need to agree to them if you wanted to continue using the service after February 8.

This caused a mass panic among users, with many choosing to switch over to Telegram and Signal. A lot of it was fueled by misinformation and hysteria, as few people seemed to have actually read the new policy changes.

As WhatsApp has repeatedly said since announcing the new policy, the new changes affect only those who interact with WhatsApp Business accounts on the service. These Business accounts can now use Facebook hosting services to manage their WhatsApp chats, use Facebook branded commerce features such as Shops, and display an ad on Facebook to message the business directly on WhatsApp. In each of these cases, Facebook will now collect information on you if you interact with these business and their ads, similar to clicking any other ad on Facebook.

WhatsApp says the new policy doesn’t change anything about users messaging or calling other users or groups, as those terms haven’t been changed. Your messages and calls will continue to be encrypted and your messages won’t be stored on Facebook’s servers. It’s not that WhatsApp doesn’t share any data at all with Facebook; it’s just that the amount of data shared isn’t changing with this update. Basically, if it wasn’t a problem for you before, it shouldn’t be now.

Of course, most people don’t even know WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, let alone they share data with them, so it wasn’t surprising that they panicked when the popup message appeared and essentially told everyone that they need to start sharing data with Facebook or stop using the service. Some people even assumed their accounts will be deleted after February 8, which of course isn’t happening.

Anyway, Facebook isn’t changing its policy. The company is stressing the new changes are only relevant to those who interact with Business accounts and don’t impact other users. So it’s just extending the date forward, likely hoping people would have forgotten about this by then and be more willing to click that Agree button.

Source

WhatsApp to delay new privacy policy amid mass confusion about Facebook data sharing

WhatsApp on Friday announced a three-month delay of a new privacy policy originally slated to go into effect on February 8th following widespread confusion over whether the new policy would mandate data sharing with Facebook.

The update does not in fact affect data sharing with Facebook with regard to user chats or other profile information; WhatsApp has repeatedly clarified that its update addresses business chats in the event a user converses with a company’s customer service platform through WhatsApp.

“We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update. There’s been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts,” the company wrote in a new blog post published today.

Since 2016, WhatsApp has shared certain information with Facebook, including your phone number, unless you were one of the select few users who chose to opt out of data sharing while the option was still available that year. WhatsApp does not, however, look at people’s chat messages or listen to their phone calls, and WhatsApp conversations are end-to-end encrypted to protect against those abuses.

Despite this, a pop-up informing users of the new change included mention of how WhatsApp partners with Facebook, and it also included an ultimatum instructing users to delete their account if they chose not to agree to the new terms, giving people the idea they were being railroaded into new, more invasive terms.

The company released a separate blog post this week trying to clear up the confusion, and it included a chart that specifies what information is protected and not shared when someone uses WhatsApp.

But numerous media reports highlighting the addition of new, broad language in the privacy policy (language WhatsApp says has been misconstrued to imply mandated data sharing) and misinformation on social media have coalesced into a full-blown WhatsApp privacy backlash. The result has been a surge in sign-ups for messaging competitors like Signal and Telegram.

Facebook executives, including Instagram chief Adam Mosseri and WhatsApp head Will Cathcart, used Twitter to try to clear up the confusion, it seems with little success. Facebook’s poor privacy track record, and the fact that WhatsApp has over time turned its sights on monetizing the platform for its large international user base, has eroded trust in the chat app, which, in turn, has had the effect of turning a relatively mundane update into a worldwide controversy.

WhatsApp says it’s now going to use this three-month delay to better communicate both the changes in its new policy and its long-standing privacy practices around personal chats, location sharing, and other sensitive data. “We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms,” the blog post reads.

WhatsApp says no one will be losing access to the app if they didn’t agree to the new terms of service agreement that communicated the changes earlier this month. “We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15,” the company says.

WhatsApp tells The Verge the policy won’t be changing when it does come out. The intent of the update is communicating to users that messages with businesses on WhatsApp may be stored on Facebook servers, which necessitates data sharing between the two companies and would allow Facebook to share that information between its main social network and Instagram for ad targeting and to improve its digital commerce business. WhatsApp still intends to release the update on May 15th to coincide with new business chat features it began previewing back in October.

But the company hopes the extra time will help it get a handle on the controversy and better improve its messaging around what’s actually changing.

“The update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data. While not everyone shops with a business on WhatsApp today, we think that more people will choose to do so in the future and it’s important people are aware of these services,” the blog post reads. “This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.”

Crypto Wars: EU Commission does not want to weaken encrypted communication

The encryption of message services such as Whatsapp or Telegram should not be weakened according to the will of the EU Commission. The Brussels authority is not planning a proposal for a general ban on encrypted communications, said EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson in a letter to three MEPs. No solution is being considered that would fundamentally weaken encryption for all citizens or directly or indirectly ban it.

No plans for weakening or back doors You can confirm “that there are no plans to go in this direction”, it says in the letter that is available to the German press agency. The Swede also excludes “the introduction of” back doors “” for access to encrypted data. Data protectionists in particular had warned against this.

The EU states, on the other hand, urge access to encrypted communication in the fight against terror and organized crime. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) also wants this. In a declaration by the EU interior ministers in December, the responsible authorities must be able to get legal and targeted access to the data. At the same time, technical solutions would have to observe the principles of legality and proportionality as well as the protection of personal data. One wants to create an “active debate with the technology industry”. This is important from the point of view of the EU countries because investigators and authorities are increasingly dependent on electronic evidence – and these are often encrypted.

Clear rejection The EU Commission last took up this initiative in the anti-terror plan. They want to work with the EU states on possible legal, operational and technical solutions for legal access to encrypted data. Civil society organizations and privacy advocates ran a storm and warned against providing access to the data through a “technical back door”. This damages the confidentiality of communication.

Johansson’s letter from Monday is now a response to a letter from the liberal MEPs Moritz Körner, Claudia Gamon and Sophie in ‘t Veld from November, which was also sent to other EU Commissioners as well as EU Council President Charles Michel and Interior Minister Seehofer went. More than 50 other MPs had joined the letter. Johansson’s answer is now clearer than ever. In doing so, she recalls earlier commitments by the EU Commission not to weaken encrypted communication. Recently, no such clarifications were made.

“It is good that the commission clarifies that it is not planning any legislative initiatives to ban encryption and also no back doors for security authorities,” said FDP politician Körner of the dpa. “The Commission is either unimpressed by the plans for encryption promoted in the Council under the German Council Presidency or takes the massive public opposition to the plans seriously. Both are good for civil rights in Europe!” Seehofer must finally recognize that his plans on the subject of encryption “have led to a dead end”.

(mho)

Signal outage is keeping messages from sending

If you’re having trouble sending messages in the secure messaging app Signal, it may be due to technical difficulties the company says are affecting the app on Friday.

Signal allows for secure and encrypted video, voice, and text communication, but users were greeted this morning with messages that failed to send. Signal confirmed the issue on its official Twitter account with the promise that it would “restore service as quickly as possible.”

Signal is experiencing technical difficulties. We are working hard to restore service as quickly as possible.

— Signal (@signalapp) January 15, 2021

In the last week, Signal reported a surge of new users to its app following a recommendation from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a new WhatsApp privacy policy that may have driven users away from the Facebook-owned messaging service and into the arms of more secure options like Signal and competitor Telegram.

There may not be a direct connection between the mass influx of new users and the outage, but it does guarantee that more people are going to be affected. We’ll keep an eye on the problem and update when Signal has more to share.

How to delete your Facebook account

\If you’ve finally given up on the world’s most popular social media network, it’s not too complicated to remove yourself from the service. But before you delete all of those pictures, posts, and likes, you should download your personal information from Facebook.

Your Facebook archives contain just about all of the pertinent information related to your account, including your photos, active sessions, chat history, IP addresses, facial recognition data, and which ads you clicked, just to name a few. That’s a ton of personal information that you should probably maintain access to.

To download your archive using the web:

Click on the “down” arrow in the upper right corner.
Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
In the left-hand column, click on “Your Facebook Information.”
In the center, find and click on “Download Your Information.”
You can select which info you want to download (or you can just download all of it). At the top of the page, there are drop-down lists that let you create a date range (if you want to), download your data in either HTML or JSON, and choose between high, medium, or low media quality.
When you’re ready, click on “Create File.” You’ll get notified via email when your file is ready.

You can choose which Facebook data you want to download.

After you’ve finished downloading your archive, you can now delete your account.

Beware: once you delete your account, it cannot be recovered.

When you are ready to delete your account, go back to the page headed “Your Facebook Information” and click on “Deactivation and Deletion.” Here, you can choose between temporarily deactivating your account or permanently deleting it.

If you want to delete it, either click on “Delete Account” on that page, or click this link, which will take you to the same account deletion page.

You’ll get another chance here to download your archive or choose deactivation rather than deletion. Once you click “Delete My Account,” your account will be marked for termination and inaccessible to others using Facebook.

Before you delete your account, you get another chance to deactivate or download your info.

The company notes that it delays termination for a few days after it’s requested. If you log back in during that period, your deletion request will be canceled. So don’t sign on, or you’ll be forced to start the process over again. Certain things, like comments you’ve made on a friend’s post, may still appear even after you delete your account. Facebook also says that copies of certain items like log records will remain in its database, but it notes that those are disassociated with personal identifiers.

If you’re really serious about quitting Facebook, remember that the company owns several other popular services as well, like Instagram and WhatsApp, so you should delete your accounts there, too.

Update January 15th, 2021, 9:15AM ET: This article was originally published on September 28th, 2018 and has been updated to allow for changes in the Facebook interface.

Chaos WhatsApp, the Privacy Guarantor moves: unclear information

The change in terms and policies WhatsApp privacy has created confusion across Europe and Italy, leading to a boom in competing apps such as Telegram and Signal. The Privacy Guarantor considers the information to users unclear and is ready to move urgently.

by Manolo De Agostini published 15 January 2021 , at 10: 41 in the Telephony channel

Facebook Whatsapp

Around WhatsApp a real ruckus in the last few weeks, after the company has changed the terms and privacy policies by requiring data sharing with Facebook (its parent company), under penalty of inability to use the app. It is, as noted immediately and further pointed out in a dedicated news, of a provision that does not affect Europe . Or rather, the terms must be accepted to continue using the service, but the extent of the data exchange between WhatsApp and Facebook is smaller than the rest of the world – and certainly does not imply that you must have an FB account to use WhatsApp, like some people. have understood.

“ There are no changes to how WhatsApp data is shared in the European Region , including the UK, resulting from the updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, “the company explained. “ We do not share European area user data with Facebook for the purpose of allowing Facebook to use such data to improve its products or advertisements “.

” Today, Facebook does not use your WhatsApp account information to improve your experiences with Facebook products. future we decide to share such data with Facebook companies for this purpose, we will only after reaching an agreement with the Irish Data Protection Commission “.

Nevertheless, there has been a real rush to open accounts with Telegram and Signal , with the two services experiencing an incredible boom, with millions of new users. A confusion that attracted the attention of the Privacy Guarantor in Italy , who decided to put in place an urgent procedure to investigate what happened.

“The message with which WhatsApp warned its users of the updates that will be made, from 8 February, in the terms of service – in particular with regard to the sharing of data with other group companies – and the same information on the treatment that will be done of their personal data, are unclear and intelligible and must be carefully evaluated in light of the regulations on privacy. For this reason the Guarantor for the protection of personal data has brought the matter to ‘attention of the Edpb, the Board that brings together the European privacy authorities “, reads a note.

“The Guarantor believes that from the terms of service and the new information it is not possible for users to understand which changes have been introduced, nor to clearly understand which data processing will be in co ncreto made by the messaging service after 8 February. This information does not therefore appear to be suitable for allowing WhatsApp users to express a free and aware will. The Guarantor still reserves the right to intervene, as a matter of urgency, to protect Italian users and to enforce the rules on the protection of personal data “.

It is not clear what the effects of the procedure will be, but WhatsApp added that” the updating of the privacy policies does not affect the privacy of messages with friends and family “. Neither WhatsApp, nor Facebook, have access to the private messages of users , and all audio and video conversations remain totally private. User logs related to messages or calls also remain private, and are not saved remotely. The same happens with shared locations, contact information and group participation, data that all remain absolutely private and owned only and exclusively by the directly concerned.

Inventory data: Opposition warns of new attack on digital civil rights

Representatives of all opposition factions have sharply criticized the draft law with which the grand coalition is adapting the provisions on stock data information to the requirements of the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) and the initiative to “combat right-wing extremism”, which was stopped by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) Hate crime “wants to cure. The FDP network expert Manuel Höferlin feared at the 1st reading of the project on Wednesday in the Bundestag that this threatened the “next crack in the foundation of digital civil rights”.

Work for the Federal Constitutional Court According to Höferlin, the maxim of the federal government in security laws is: “As far and as much as possible.” The Federal Constitutional Court would then have to sweep up the shambles, as was the case with the rules for accessing inventory data such as name, address, and email and IP addresses of Internet users in the summer. The new attempt, for example, would not fix the obligation of social network operators to report to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) linked to the anti-hate law, with which a “suspicion database” is created there. Black and red steer the “next law to Karlsruhe”.

The project is “poorly crafted” and “possibly unconstitutional”, said Niema Movassat for the left to consider. He also described it as highly problematic that network operators themselves had to report suspicious content and related data to the BKA. In addition, there is a dubious procedure: associations should have commented on the first draft by Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) within a week, which was not possible. He advised the government groups to withdraw the paper and treat themselves to “a round of homeschooling in the area of fundamental rights”.

Limiting access The anti-hate law was supposed to be “the reaction to the attack in Halle”, explained the Green Konstantin von Notz. But the coalition “screwed up” it by incorporating the requirements for inventory data information. Even now they are not tackling other central deficiencies such as the threatening “DoS attack on the BKA, clear deletion deadlines and stronger rights of those affected”, although the Greens have shown alternatives such as a two-stage reporting process. In addition, there is the “completely marginal access to passwords” from providers of telemedia services such as WhatsApp, eBay, Facebook, Gmail and YouTube correct and wanted the “master key for any number of platforms”, emphasized Christian Wirth (AfD). The passing on of IP addresses and port numbers is a step towards more repression. In the planned “attack on the free Internet”, Black-Red is also placing sovereignty in the hands of US online companies.

Defense of the government The inventory data information is very important “for the work of our security authorities,” said Nina Warken (CDU). The coalition is now differentiating better and laying down transmission regulations for the service providers and the corresponding collection powers for the police and secret services. The Federal Constitutional Court only asked for “microsurgical interventions” in the form of more precise conditions, added the CSU MP Michael Kuffer. He accused the Greens of glee at every conceivable “weakening of our security apparatus”.

There would now be “stricter rules” for access to customer data and passwords, Uli Grötsch defended the draft for the SPD. “We limit data access rights to particularly serious crimes and specific dangers.” The coalition also wants to saddle up with the initiative: For example, customs authorities and the offices responsible for prosecuting and punishing administrative offenses under state law should be able to access inventory data in order to take action against undeclared work.

Grötsch warned in a hurry so that Steinmeier could soon draft the “Hate Speech” law: “Hate and agitation on the Internet produce murderers.” This was shown not only in the US when the Capitol was attacked, but also in right-wing extremist attacks in Germany. At the 25. A public expert hearing is to take place on January 1st.

(kbe)

keyword: Whatsapp