Strategic Surveillance and Extraterritorial Basic Rights Protection: German Intelligence Law After Snowden

Abstract

This Article examines the statutory and constitutional legal framework governing the bulk collection of communication data by the German Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND). German intelligence law distinguishes between certain categories of communications depending on the nationality and location of the participants. The provisions on the surveillance of foreigners abroad are far more permissive than those applying to the monitoring of communications that involve German nationals or foreigners in Germany. This differentiation is the consequence of a narrow interpretation by the German legislator of the personal and territorial scope of the right to privacy enshrined in Article 10 of the Basic Law. While there is no doubt that German nationals enjoy protection under Article 10 wherever their privacy is affected by the actions of the German State, current intelligence legislation is based on the understanding that foreigners are entitled to such protection only while staying in Germany. It will be argued that such discrimination is difficult to reconcile with German constitutional law because Article 10 protects every natural person without regard to nationality and because the Article's applicability is not limited to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. This means that the BND is bound by Article 10 irrespective of whether its surveillance activities affect German nationals, foreigners in Germany, or foreigners abroad. Arguably, the level of protection in transnational constellations may be subject to certain modifications. But if basic rights protection is taken seriously, the existing fragmented legislation should be replaced by a uniform statutory regime for strategic surveillance of international communications that meets the minimum standards of Article 10 without bearing reference to a person's nationality or location.