The BND will reportedly be allowed to conduct sabotage and breach suspects’ homes to install spyware
The Chancellery in Berlin has proposed granting Germany’s currently mostly surveillance-focused foreign intelligence agency powers to carry out sabotage and other offensive operations abroad, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.
The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was created in 1956 in post-war West Germany and, like the Bundeswehr, was initially limited in its powers. Until now, the BND has only been allowed to gather and analyze information.
A new draft bill seen by German media would allow the spy agency to act far more aggressively, granting permission to conduct cyberattacks, acts of sabotage and other offensive operations, according to the report.
If adopted, the legislation would also expand the BND’s domestic surveillance powers, allowing agents to enter suspects’ homes to secretly install spyware on computers and other devices. It would further expand the use of facial recognition technology and the collection data on vehicle locations and travel routes.
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