BERLIN — Germany is to tighten data protection laws, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday, responding to revelations that Germans’ personal data can be bought easily on the Internet.
Mr. Schaeuble said a working group would draw up proposals on higher fines for data protection violations and tighter rules on the trade with personal and financial information.
“There will be no quick shots but speedy consultations to get the law proposal ready before the end of the year,” Mr. Schaeuble told a news conference after meeting Germany’s justice, economy and consumer protection ministers on the issue.
Germany’s latest privacy scandal was triggered by reports that a call centre employee alerted authorities to a problem with his company’s data collection practices by handing over data on some 17,000 addresses and bank account details to a privacy protection office.
Privacy officials have also said they had been able to buy millions of items of personal data, including bank and phone data, undercover on the Internet.
globeandmail.com: Germany to tighten laws after data theft scandal.