Overview
- Providers would have to retain IP addresses with a unique subscriber identifier and second‑accurate assignment timestamps for at least three months, with no storage of content or movement profiles.
- The draft adds a targeted preservation order (Sicherungsanordnung) and restores broader cell‑tower queries for offences of considerable significance after a 2024 court narrowing.
- Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig argues stored IP data is often the only digital trace in cases such as child sexual abuse, online fraud and hate crimes.
- Police unions and the German Judges Association welcome the plan, with some calling the three‑month period too short, while the Greens, the Lawyers’ Association and civil‑liberties advocates label it unlawful mass retention.
- Previous blanket regimes were curtailed by EU and German courts and Germany’s old rules have gone unused since 2017, so legal challenges are widely anticipated once the bill advances.