Survey: Majority supports more powers for security authorities

Many Germans consider more powers from the security authorities to fight crime and prevent terrorist attacks. With regard to the ongoing coalition negotiations of the Union and SPD, which are also about what the police and the protection of the constitution should have in their toolbox in the future, 62 percent of the citizens believe that the security authorities should receive more powers.

However, as the results of the representative survey of the opinion research institute YouGov show on behalf of the German Press Agency, 22 percent of the eligible voters consider the current powers of the police and domestic intelligence service to be sufficient. Only four percent of the 2,144 participants in the survey spoke in favor of restricting their powers.

Legal data retention

It is expected that the Union and SPD telecommunications providers will again be obliged to save IP addresses in the future – for example to combat the spread of representations of sexual abuse on children and to find the other of terrorist attacks. We are looking for a model that takes into account the requirements of the Federal Constitutional Court. It was recently still disputed how many weeks or months the data should be saved. Even with subsequent biometric comparison of photos with publicly accessible internet data, an agreement is considered likely.

Cooperation with question marks

Half (53 percent) of the Germans considers that the US government may no longer share intelligence information that can no longer contribute to the prevention of terrorist attacks in Germany. According to the survey, 28 percent of Germans do not believe this. 18 percent of the people who were asked about Friday last week and Monday did not dare to judge.

So far, the exchange of intelligence information between Germany and the USA has not suffered from the change of government in Washington, according to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Vice President of the Security Authority said that they still have an “excellent exchange” with the US security authorities. At the same time, it is important: “It is never good to rely exclusively on a partner.” You have to hope for the best and at the same time be prepared for any more critical times.

Notes often come from the USA

In the past few years, German security authorities have thwarted plans for terrorist attacks, for which they had previously received decisive information – especially from the USA. The course of US President Donald Trump has lived in NATO partners of Washington’s military reliability. These concern the commitment commitment in the alliance, the support for Ukraine and the future of armaments projects.