Publication

In May 2020, the German Constitutional Court obliged the Bundestag to reform the current legal framework for foreign intelligence collection. It held that future legislation must extend key fundamental rights protections under the Basic Law to non-nationals. It also called an end to Germany’s evasion of independent judicial oversight.

The Bundestag responded to the clear call for constitutionality in March 2021. Yet, instead of seizing the moment to align the German legal framework on foreign intelligence collection with international standards and European jurisprudence on proportionate government access to personal data, the reform of the BND Act added deficits to the democratic governance of foreign intelligence.

The new research report authored by Kilian Vieth-Ditlmann and Thorsten Wetzling analyses the new legislation and calls upon the next government to prepare a more comprehensive and rights-based intelligence reform.Read More »Caught in the Act? An analysis of Germany’s new SIGINT reform

As part of the new book on “Trust and Transparency in an Age of Surveillance” published in the Routledge Studies in Surveillance series, Thorsten Wetzling and Kilian Vieth-Ditlmann authored a chapter on “Legal safeguards and oversight innovations for bulk surveillance.”… Read More »Trust and Transparency in an Age of Surveillance

The modernised Convention 108+ is the only legally binding agreement on data processing and data protection that extends to the realm of national security and defence. Upon invitation of the Council of Europe, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling and Charlotte Dietrich wrote a… Read More »Report on the need for a guidance note on Article 11 of the Convention 108+

After the German Constitutional Court ruled in May 2020 that key provisions in the existing BND law are unconstitutional, the legal framework of the German foreign intelligence service is currently under review. In an article on about:intel Professor Elspeth Guild,… Read More »Germany’s BND Act & recent CJEU case law

In a contribution for about:intel, a European discussion forum for intelligence and surveillance,  GUARDINT team member Kilian Vieth explains the added value and use cases of GUARDINT’s recently published document database. It explains its purpose, its content, the different ways… Read More »“A new digital hub for intelligence law and oversight”

We are delighted to announce the beta release of GUARDINT’s Surveillance Oversight Database. So far, there is no digital hub for documents related to intelligence surveillance and oversight. The publicly accessible database compiles legal documents, oversight reports, court decisions and… Read More »GUARDINT’s Surveillance Oversight Database is online

Policy analysis of new draft law by Germany’s Grand Coalition can’t keep up with what is already practiced in other democracies.

Upon invitation of the Chairman of the Belgian Standing Intelligence Agencies Review Committee, GUARDINT team member Dr. Thorsten Wetzling presented a new study on data-driven intelligence oversight at the Forum of the Belgian Parliament. The event was held under the… Read More »Special Intelligence Methods in the Spotlights

Recommendations for a System Update Download the policy paper as PDF Intelligence services around the world are driving the evolution of surveillance technology – a rapid, bold, and multi-faceted development. Many countries will run the risk of conducting irrelevant intelligence… Read More »Data-driven Intelligence Oversight