German constitutional court rules gov't access to personal data must be limited

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled Friday that governmental access to personal data would need to be limited, as the country's telecommunications act and several ordinary federal laws were "unconstitutional."

With the new telecommunications act, security authorities are able to obtain information such as IP addresses and subscriber data from telecommunications companies in Germany.

The latest round of legislation had violated "complainants' right to informational self-determination and their right to the privacy of telecommunications," Germany's highest court ruled.

The case had been triggered by two constitutional complaints that argued that with the new law, German police and secret services could access data even more easily and to an even greater extent. One complaint had been signed by more than 6,000 supporters in Germany.

While providing information on subscriber data was generally permissible under constitutional law, the legislature would be required to "create a proportionate legal basis" for both the transfer of subscriber data by telecommunications providers as well as the retrieval of such data by the German authorities, according to the court.

Germany's constitutional court ruled that there needed to be a "specific danger" as well as an "initial suspicion of criminal conduct" before the country's intelligence service could legally obtain an individual's data.