Thomas Holbach

Yesterday we had the first “day of data protection” in Europe.

I am very interested in this topic for a long time, and I’m wondering if ministers of the interior in Europe or other countries (such as the minister of homeland security) have too much work and too little time to experience that there is life which is not statistically captured by criminal statistics, and that there is not a terrorist living around every next corner or a terroristic gene in all of us.

Ministers of interior are usually somehow tremendous persons, but within their starting careers they turn to paranoid and escapist watchdogs. Since 2001/09/11 it is common practice to see a “unsually serious” and “close” terror threat at least 3-5 times a year. The US “Homeland Security Advisory System” for example informs us that the “threat level” is currently “elevated” or “yellow”.

Every law which shortens our basic rights is justified by the “war against terrorism”, “a matter of inner securiuty policy” or something similar. Though these laws are only successful in very little cases, they are all in all accepted by the majority of the population. By supporting such a pragmatical policy, that even considers to fire off aircrafts that might be hijacked, our democracies are turning bit by bit into police states.

Last year the European Union adopted the „Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament“ which is about the “retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks and amending Directive 2002/58/EC“ - in a quite undemocratic way. It demands the member states - or at least their internet providers, their telephone companies and mobil radio operators to save connection data for a period of time between 6 months up to 24 months. Germany is going to adopt the directive in summer - a complaint of unconstitutionality is prepared against it - I took part.

The last point I want to mention is maybe not a matter of data protection - but a reason for a “glass government” (as it is called in Germany), and against the development to a “glass citizen”: the German case “Kurnaz“. As it seems, our foreign minister Steinmeier, once boss in the chancellery, refused the American offer to welcome innocent Guantanamo-prisoner Murat Kurnaz back to Germany in 2002. Though it seemed to be clear to everyone that he was innocent, the prisoner had to stay four more years in storied prison Guantanamo - and he even affirms his decision nowadays.

Become active and try at least to see where you are controlled. Terrorism could be even a justification for fascistic systems - and as we all know, totalitarianisms are doubleplusungood.