Germany to improve its privacy regulations

By Tim Conneally | Published September 4, 2008, 6:58 PM

In response to the discovery of an expansive black market trade in stolen bank data, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble assembled a summit to rein in the illegal collection and sale of private data in Germany.

Schäuble has been at the forefront of technological policy reform in Germany, proposing a measure late last year that would give authorities access to terror suspects' personal data in crisis situations.

But this latest crisis is that German citizens' private data is too available. Consumer data protection analyst Dr. Thilo Weichert of the DVD (German Association for Data Protection) told the German press that private bank information of as many as 20 million Germans could be purchased illegally for no more than €850. Weichert was tipped off by a whistle-blower from a company called Hanseservice.

The employee, Detlef Tiegel, worked in a call center selling subscriptions to the "Eurochance" lottery. The company promised to invest a customer's €36 monthly charge in what was essentially a lottery pyramid; contests by the same name exist in other countries as well. In reality, the company already had the bank information of the people they called, and were using the phone calls as cover for taking money from their accounts. Tiegel's proof of this scheme was a CD with the bank details of 17,000 Germans.

Germany's Interior Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble.

Schäuble, along with representatives from each of the German states, Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, Consumer Affairs Minister Horst Seehofer, and Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries, met at the emergency summit to change regulations regarding the acquisition and retention of private data. Schäuble hopes to be able to present new legislation to the Chancellor's Cabinet by November.

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