German spy agency to be given attack powers – media

The BND will reportedly be allowed to conduct sabotage and breach suspects’ homes to install spyware

The Chancellery in Berlin has proposed granting Germany’s currently mostly surveillance-focused foreign intelligence agency powers to carry out sabotage and other offensive operations abroad, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.

The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was created in 1956 in post-war West Germany and, like the armed forces, was initially limited in its powers. Until now, the BND has only been allowed to gather and analyze information.

A new draft bill seen by German media would allow the spy agency to act far more aggressively, granting permission to conduct cyberattacks, acts of sabotage, and other offensive operations, according to the report.

If adopted, the legislation would also expand the BND’s domestic surveillance powers, allowing agents to enter suspects’ homes to secretly install spyware on computers and other devices. It would further expand the use of facial recognition technology and the collection data on vehicle locations and travel routes.

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Under the proposed rules, intelligence officers would apparently be allowed to use the new powers only if Germany’s recently established National Security Council determines that a “systematic threat” exists. A parliamentary committee overseeing the intelligence services would then have to approve the measure by a two-thirds majority.

Government officials are “working intensively together in a preliminary consultation” to advance the proposal, the newspaper quoted a spokesperson as saying.

The intelligence agency was granted broader authority earlier this year to monitor the opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party after Berlin officially designated it as an ‘extremist’ group, after it secured more than 20% of the vote in the federal election.

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Senior officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump have criticized the move as a crackdown on free speech. US Vice President J.D. Vance has compared the German government’s actions against the AfD, which he called “the most popular party in Germany,” to rebuilding the Berlin Wall.