Overview
- The federal cabinet is set to decide on the reform on Wednesday in Berlin, sending a more-than-700-page package to parliament that would let the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) and Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) use limited offensive cyber measures, online searches and system intrusions to counter foreign attacks.
- The draft creates a strengthened Independent Supervisory Council to pre‑review intensive surveillance while shifting some data‑protection oversight away from the federal privacy commissioner, a change critics say reduces external scrutiny of secretive operations.
- The text preserves a peacetime ban on measures aimed at people’s life or limb and limits observation of organisations classed as extremist 'Verdachtsfälle' to five years with ministerial approval required for extensions.
- Opposition parties, the federal data protector and civil‑society groups warn the bill blurs the post‑war separation between intelligence and police powers, raises constitutional proportionality risks and is likely to face court challenges.
- Experts warn practical effects could include the BSI sharing vulnerability information for offensive use, wider use of AI to analyse data, and access to public and private camera feeds, making parliamentary debate and possible constitutional review the key next steps to watch.