Germany Cancels Surveillance Pact with USA/UK over NSA Revelations

[Anymouse]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by greatauntoftriplets (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Radio Deutsche Welle (Official Shortwave Station)

Germany has canceled a Cold War-era surveillance pact with the US and Britain. The largely symbolic move comes as Chancellor Angela Merkel's government faces mounting criticism for its complicity in spying programs.

"The cancellation of the administrative agreements, which we have pushed for in recent weeks, is a necessary and proper consequence of the recent debate about protecting personal privacy," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement Friday, referring to the revelations by whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

The move appears to be an effort on behalf of the government to show that it's taking steps to prevent the unwarranted surveillance against German citizens. However, the pact itself appears to have little significance.

Read more: http://www.dw.de/germany-cancels-cold-war-era-surveillance-pact-in-wake-of-spying-revelations/a-16994741

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The Federal Republic of Germany has some of the strongest privacy laws in the world; Angela Merkel was elected to the German Democratic Republic's (East Germany) parliament in the only free election held there at the end of that nation's existence.

The German people are quite familiar with dragnet surveillance by government, between the Gestapo and the GDR's Stasi. The pressure on Merkel was overwhelming to end the pact after the revelations of the NSA's dragnet surveillance.

The article is from Deutsche Welle, the official shortwave broadcaster of the FRG. Germany cares more for its people's privacy rights than our own government does about ours, it seems.

[JI7]

1. "However, the pact itself appears to have little significance."

"The British Foreign Office said in a statement that it was a "loose end from a previous era which is right to tie up," adding that it had not been used since 1990."

[OldEurope]

2. I'm afraid it's not about the privacy of Germans.

More likely it is about preventing industrial espionage.

[Turbineguy]

3. I can see their point.

Spying is a quiet affair and you can't hook up with somebody who hires people who blab.

[SCVDem]

4. It's time to close our bases

and bring the troops home.

We can no longer afford to have bases where they aren't needed.

[primavera]

5. So much for taking a principled stance

Germany could have done something substantive in response and, instead, they're giving us this meaningless bit of fluff for purely PR purposes. Guess we can't look to Germany to stand up for privacy any more than we can expect anyone else to.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. Sorry, but we're locking this as a dupe.

Please see this thread. http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014555397