The start of a new government in Germany is accompanied by a turnaround in transatlantic relations and an unprecedented anti-democratic takeover of power by tech broligarchs in the United States. Therefore, mass surveillance by tech companies is even more of a political issue than before, which a new government cannot ignore.

We are calling for a serious paradigm shift in German digital policy to prevent the foreseeable abuse of power. Mass surveillance must be clearly rejected. The tech companies and US intelligence services should no longer be fed with our data.

As an association of civil society organizations, we call on the CDU/CSU and the SPD to build digital infrastructures that are resilient against fascism’s cravings. Our twelve demands are intended to remind the next German government that fundamental rights and democracy in the digital space must be strengthened and protected against abuse.

Open letter: German civil society organizations call on the new federal government to build digital infrastructures that are resilient against fascism’s cravings

We, the undersigned organizations, call on the new German federal government to build a digital firewall against fascism. This digital firewall must minimize the potential for abuse, empower people and social groups, as well as protect and promote human rights and democratic values, particularly freedom, equality, and solidarity. Current events in the USA show how data extraction and analysis can be used to for a hostile takeover, causing lasting damage to state structures, suppressing resistance, and persecuting marginalized groups.

The coalition agreement must therefore be measured against these twelve minimum requirements:

I. Commitment against surveillance

It is a misconception that increasing surveillance represents an increase in security. Security also requires that people can communicate anonymously and confidentially, and that their privacy is protected. All too often, actionist proposals such as chat control, data retention, or biometric surveillance are presented as technical panaceas for complex social challenges – without considering their massive potential for abuse. Instead, evidence-based policy that pursues differentiated solutions without mass surveillance is needed. It is the state’s task to protect fundamental rights. This includes, in particular, preventing the misuse of measures, powers, and infrastructures by the enemies of democracy, now and in the future.

We demand:

• A ban on biometric mass surveillance of public spaces and the untargeted biometric analysis of the Internet. In particular, any form of database that analyses images, videos, and audio files from the Internet for biometric characteristics in an untargeted manner will actively be dismantled. The corresponding powers of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees will be revoked.
• Mass data retention without occasion will be rejected. Instead, more effective and rights-preserving law enforcement measures, such as the so-called ‘quick-freeze’-procedure and the ‘login trap’, should be pursued.
• Automated data analysis of information held by law enforcement agencies and any form of predictive policing or automated profiling of people are rejected. Cooperation between German and US intelligence services will be restricted, and any kind of automated mass exchange of content or metadata will be prevented.
• The full evaluation of surveillance programmes (‘Überwachungsgesamtrechnung’) will be published, continuously updated and legislation will adjust the scope of state surveillance powers accordingly.

II. Protection and security for all

IT attacks such as via ‘Salt Typhoon’ show the dangers of state backdoors and emphasize: the need to strengthen IT security and end-to-end encrypted communication is a question of overall societal resilience. At the same time, independent and civil society research that uncovers security vulnerabilities for the benefit of society is still under general suspicion and criminalized. Security vulnerabilities in software must be consistently reported by all government agencies to the manufacturers for rectification as part of vulnerability management. Security and protection must not be a question of privilege but apply to all people, especially marginalized people and groups.

We demand:

• The introduction of a right to encryption. The German government will advocate against chat control at the European level, and protect end-to-end encryption and the confidentiality of communication altogether.
• IT security research will be supported instead of criminalized. The ‘hacker paragraph’ will be abolished. Effective IT vulnerability management will also be introduced for public authorities. The Federal Office for Information Security will be set up independently.
• The Federal Government commits to effective child and youth media protection without undermining the fundamental rights of children and young people through mandatory age verification. The anonymous and pseudonymous use of the Internet will be protected and enabled.
• The abolition of the payment card for refugees and the cessation of mobile phone analyses by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. We call on the Federal Government to take a stand at the European level against the collection of refugees’ personal data and to respect their privacy and autonomy.

III. Democracy in the digital space

Private surveillance and concentration of power must be combated. The arbitrary and anti-democratic exercise of power by the tech oligarchs around President Trump requires a paradigm shift in German digital policy and a renewed commitment to decentralized public spaces and resolute law enforcement through federal supervisory structures. Healthy digital spaces also depend on a resilient society with strong digital competences and a democratic discourse in which digital violence has no place. To this end, we call for a law to protect against violence online worthy of the name, an expansion of digital education, and the promotion of digital volunteering.

We demand:

• The private abuse of power by Big Tech companies will be combated by enforcing strong, independent, and categorically federal supervisory structures, particularly in the areas of platform regulation, data protection , and antitrust law.
• The Federal Government will launch a comprehensive funding program for digital public spaces that are organized decentrally, embedded in society, designed to be interoperable, and programmed as open source.
• A protection law against digital violence  will be introduced that centers around those affected consistently. This also includes the reform of the imprint obligation, the inclusion of group-related digital violence, and the promotion of counseling and support services.
• Good digital education that empowers people and is freely accessible will become a priority and be available to all social groups, regardless of age and level of education. We call for a comprehensive strategy for promoting open educational resources and digital volunteering.