Electronic surveillance

Mass surveillance in Germany rebuked by Council of Europe

In a recent report on Germany, Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, criticises the fact that democratic control of the intelligence services is practically impossible and that mass surveillance can be carried out virtually unchecked.

According to the report, "the relationship between the number of supervisors and the number of those being supervised is particularly relevant: two committees with 13 members, supported by a small secretariat, supervise 6,000 employees at the Federal Intelligence Service (BND)".