Ministers of the interior want to make users identifiable by IP address | TechBuzz

In the future, in the fight against crime on the Internet, it should be possible for investigators to allocate the identities of users via the IP addresses of the computers. The interior ministers of the federal states and the federal government agreed on this, said the chairman of the conference of interior ministers, Bavaria’s department head Joachim Herrmann (CSU), in Würzburg.

“We have to ensure that at least the providers are disclosed which identities are hidden behind a corresponding IP address,” said Herrmann, adding: “We agree on that.” Above all, Herrmann hopes to achieve greater success in the fight against child pornography on the Internet. It becomes clear that more and more cases become known the more closely the investigators look.

It must be possible for people to be anonymous on the Internet. But you have to come to a concept that at least the provider knows the real names and then also publishes them on a judicial decision.

In addition, it must be ensured that, for example, child pornographic representations can be deleted on the Internet as soon as the data for the investigations has been secured. Herrmann announced that there should also be a mutual decision by the interior ministers on this.

Faeser against general chat control

Meanwhile, the EU Commission’s proposal for chat control is now also met with massive criticism from Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. After the SPD politician had generally welcomed the commission’s draft in May, she spoke out strictly against the control plans contained therein. Faeser said: “It’s about encrypted communication. That would be like looking at every letter, in every mailbox. Nobody wants that.”

Herrmann said the Commission’s proposal went too far. “To let all chats between people run through a network first” and to check everything where bare skin appears would be “an extreme intervention”. That doesn’t change the fact that the investigators needed better tools to fight so-called child pornography.

In May, the EU Commission presented a draft law with which it wants to better protect children on the Internet. EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson justified the plans with alarming numbers. Last year alone, 85 million photos and videos showing child sexual abuse were discovered, she said. The EU draft law stipulates that Internet companies can be obliged to screen the private messages of all their users for illegal images of abuse. This would also affect chat services such as WhatsApp, Signal and email offers. Criticism of the plan came from Digital Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), among others.