SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Germany's Interior Minister Wants Backdoors In Cars, Digital Devices [tomshardware.com]

According to a new report from German newspaper Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland [rnd-news.de] (RND), Germany's Interior Minister, Thomas de Maizièr [thomasdemaiziere.de], has written a draft proposal in which he would like German cars, as well as other digital devices being sold in Germany, to grant police backdoor access. The minister is expected to present the proposal at next week's Ministry of Interior conference.

According to the RND report, the German minister would like intelligence agencies and police to gain "exclusive" access to cars, as well as digital devices [netzpolitik.org] such as computers, mobile devices, kitchen appliances, and smart TVs. The "back door" access would, in essence, allow the government to bypass the security protections some of these devices have. The police have been complaining that sometimes they can't install intercept equipment on some cars because their security systems are "too good."

Maizièr would also like cars and digital devices to have a "kill switch" the government can use at will to shut down certain devices, allegedly to stop cybercrime.

Original Submission