The German Judges’ Association has welcomed the proposed requirement to retain IP addresses and emphasized the need for further measures to combat child exploitation. Sven Rebehn, the main managing director for the Judges’ Association, stated to the press that in cases of crimes conducted over the internet, such as child pornography, an IP address is often the sole, yet always the fastest, investigative avenue available to locate suspects and rescue victims from potentially ongoing distress. He warned that investigative efforts frequently come to nothing without the reliable assignment of IP addresses to registered service providers.
Beyond this need for national IP retention, Rebehn also stressed the necessity of restarting voluntary chat monitoring for child abuse at the European level. He urged the federal government and coalition parties to advocate in Brussels so that messaging services can continue to legally identify and report instances of misuse in chats. This specific regulation had lapsed at the beginning of April.
Furthermore, the managing director warned that prosecutors are highly alarmed and fear significant gaps in criminal prosecution if US platforms cease providing information regarding child abuse via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to prosecutors within the EU.
In a separate development, the federal cabinet plans to approve a three-month retention mandate for IP addresses and their associated port numbers this week. However, data protection advocates have voiced considerable criticism regarding the draft law submitted by the Federal Minister of Justice, Stefanie Hubig (SPD).
