The German government is releasing a new and comprehensive strategy aimed to make legislation and governance into a framework sufficient to keep pace with connectivity and interconnectedness.
As this commentator writing for Spiegel characterises the agenda (auf Deutsch) a bit like the impossible Christmas wish-list of a precocious child—or the goals, as-stated, of a civic-minded beauty-pageant contestant, what with calls and promises of a high-speed internet connection for all Germans, better protection of intellectual-property, enhanced security for potential vulnerable infrastructure (power-grids and other utilities), support for start-up ventures, smart-homes, smart-roads, etc.
All these ideas are excellent, but I believe a little naรฏve—not that bold dreaming is something we ought to be timid about—as the law and budget as it stands and it is imagined is inadequate to address all these possibilities, fulfillments and disappointments. There is some language in the programme, speaking of let-downs, however, that seems long overdue and a mandate that can and ought to be met. There is a more timely reporting requirement for breaches that compromise users’ information, plus a sort of minimum liability insurance for companies who would presume to handle such volumes of data so they might not leave the gate unhitched and bigger penalties if they do. This is not creating an information cartel of just a few big corporations that have and hold the dossiers of everyone, but rather—I think—a disincentive for morbid curiosity and records never to be retired and destroyed.
