German parliament votes for new data retention law

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.com/en/german-parliament-votes-for-new-data-retention-law/a-18786345

Germany's lower house of parliament has voted to resume collecting and retaining metadata about phone calls and internet use. Berlin says the new legislation is a balanced compromise.

German parliament votes for new data retention law
16.10.2015

The German parliament on Friday agreed to reintroduce a revised law to collect and retain information about phone calls and internet use.

While 404 lawmakers voted in favor of the legislation, 148 voted against.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has said a law allowing retention would be necessary to detect terrorists should Germany be attacked. The data would be stored by providers, and investigators would have to ask a judge for access to it.

Germany's Grand Coalition includes the main largest party groups, Merkel's conservatives and the center left Social Democrats (SPD) were broadly in favor of the proposal. The opposition, comprising the Left party and the Greens, have argued it would put millions of citizens under general surveillance.