Space theory

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The term space theory describes a controversial view of the legal basis of satellite data acquisition, which is represented by the management level of the Federal Intelligence Service , i.e. the acquisition of data streams from satellite communication connections during their transmission to the ground by the BND's technical intelligence department . According to her, "[] the recording of satellite communications at the branch in Bad Aibling does not take place on Bavarian land, but at most abroad or ultimately on the satellite in space and thus in a largely unlawful area, in the the Basic Law does not reach in ”.

background

The BND law provides for restrictions in section 1 (2) for the collection of information. The data recorded in the course of the satellite data acquisition are not regulated by national law, however, since the satellites are located outside national sovereignty , which is why “no data is collected within the scope of the BNDG”.

The "space theory" was made known by the NSA investigation committee : The data protection officer of the Federal Intelligence Service was invited to a witness hearing in the 1st investigation committee of the 18th electoral term of the German Bundestag on October 9, 2014. She reported that, according to her legal opinion, the collection of the data took place in the Bad Aibling branch and therefore within the scope of the BND law. She also stated that she had been overruled by her superiors in the management level of the Federal Intelligence Service, who advocated space theory. Both Gabriele Löwnau (responsible for secret services on the staff of the Federal Data Protection Commissioner, among others) and the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Andrea Voßhoff criticized legal violations.

Consequences

According to a press release by SPIEGEL in April 2015, the federal government plans to legalize this practice of the BND for the future. In June 2016, the federal government and coalition factions agreed on a reform of the BND law on secret service surveillance, which grants the BND extensive new powers. The opposition considers this unconstitutional. In October 2016, the Bundestag again extended the powers of the BND. In the future, this will be allowed to completely spy out data from entire telecommunications networks with international traffic, including domestically. This includes, for example, the DE-CIX network node in Frankfurt .

The Federal Constitutional Court ruled in May 2020 on the basis of a constitutional complaint against the BND law, among other things, that "the binding of German state authority to fundamental rights according to Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law [...] is not limited to German territory". The BND law has thus been declared unconstitutional in parts and must be renewed by the end of 2021.

Web links

Wiktionary: Space Theory  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b heise online: Secret files BND & NSA: Bad Aibling and the "space theory". In: heise.de. heise online, accessed on November 22, 2018 (German).
  2. ↑ Agenda - Public Taking of Evidence, 16th Meeting ( German ) Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ Agenda - Public Taking of Evidence, 72nd Meeting ( German ) Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ Live blog from the Secret Service Investigation Committee: The BND stores connection data over five levels ( German ) Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  5. ↑ Die Anarchos vom BND ( German ) Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  6. ↑ Secret BND emails reveal dispute over data transfer to NSA ( German ) Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ Government plans law on espionage in space ( German ) Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  8. ↑ Andre Meister: The new BND law: Everything that the BND does is simply legalized. And even expanded. In: netzpolitik.org. June 30, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Stefan Krempl: Free ticket for complete Internet surveillance: Sharp criticism of BND reform. In: heise.de. June 30, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016 .
  10. ^ Stefan Krempl: BND reform: Bundestag resolves Internet surveillance à la NSA. In: heise.de. October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016 .
  11. ↑ AZ: 1 BvR 2835/17. (PDF; 0.6 MB) In: bundesverfassungsgericht.de. May 19, 2020, p. 1 , accessed May 27, 2020 .
  12. ↑ heise online: Secret files BND & NSA: Operation Eikonal - the domestic as "virtual foreign country". In: heise.de. heise online, accessed on November 22, 2018 (German).