One last bit of cleanup on stories – coverage from Tutanota, an email security provider, referencing an interview with a German news outlet. The Federal Minister for Justice wants to remove data retention entirely in Germany. From that interview:
“I reject data retention without any reason and would like to remove it from the law once and for all. It violates fundamental rights. If everyone has to expect that a lot about their communications will be stored without cause, then no one will feel free anymore.”
This would flip data retention on its head. Focused on telecommunications data, consider the ramifications of logging being something only turned on when there is a deliberate cause, not for all reasons.
Let’s be clear – this is still a potential, not law. That said, the Europeans remain much further ahead in their thinking and approach to privacy laws, and Germany is a very significant market. Because of that, any major player — including the cloud ones — is going to be watching this. If this was an option … would you take it? Or would your customers?