Data protection practically non-existent in Germany
The data protection scandal is taking on ever-greater proportions: According to experts, the addresses of all German citizens are being circulated for marketing purposes.
The data protection scandal is taking on ever greater dimensions: According to experts, the addresses of all German citizens are in circulation for marketing purposes. The data is mainly used for telephone sales, games of chance and competitions as well as online sales exchanges.
At the same time, according to experts, around ten to twenty million German citizens' account details are currently being traded illegally. They are mainly used by call centers for dubious business practices, said Thilo Weichert, head of the Independent State Center for Data Protection in Schleswig-Holstein, in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday.
The authorities are only just beginning to uncover the scandal surrounding the millions of cases of trading in partially stolen data. "We are now seeing more and more of the tip of the iceberg," said Weichert. Meanwhile, Renate Künast, chairwoman of the Green Party parliamentary group in the Bundestag, is calling for higher penalties and stricter controls in the area of data protection. The Basic Law must be amended accordingly, she told the Financial Times Deutschland.
At the same time, according to experts, around ten to twenty million German citizens' account details are currently being traded illegally. They are mainly used by call centers for dubious business practices, said Thilo Weichert, head of the Independent State Center for Data Protection in Schleswig-Holstein, in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday.
The authorities are only just beginning to uncover the scandal surrounding the millions of cases of trading in partially stolen data. "We are now seeing more and more of the tip of the iceberg," said Weichert. Meanwhile, Renate Künast, chairwoman of the Green Party parliamentary group in the Bundestag, is calling for higher penalties and stricter controls in the area of data protection. The Basic Law must be amended accordingly, she told the Financial Times Deutschland.
