No Comment for the Spy: The Daily NSA Scandal

NSA affair? That was last year, right? The big commotion over the systematic spying on German citizens and politicians by American and British intelligence has oddly quietened, without anything being clarified or ended. President Obama has held his personal promise not to tap Angela Merkel’s phone. However, it is not only about the chancellor’s phone.

This is about the protection of all citizens’ fundamental rights. What has the German government achieved regarding this issue? Nothing. The U.S.A. actively continues its spying activities, and information about new variations is constantly resurfacing. For instance, the dubious System Mystic allegedly allows the NSA to tap into and save telephone conversations being held in a whole country.

And the German government does nothing. The promised no-spy agreement with the U.S. will never exist. One wants to discuss a common idea of a private sphere. How impressive. It is therefore about time that the German parliament takes the protection of civil rights seriously and pressures the government to take action. As demonstrated in the National Socialist Underground case, the instrument from the investigation committee has proven to be extremely efficient.

First and foremost the parliamentarians will ensure that the NSA scandal will not be forgotten. The scandal is not last year’s news. It takes place on a daily basis.