So Merkel’s and a lot of other world leaders’ phones have been spied on for more than 10 years. (german / english) Erm… so what?! Trying to monitor people in leading positions of government or economy is espionage in the traditional sense. Nothing new here. I find it hard to put into words how blatantly and undemocratically arrogant it is by our government to react only now, after months of news about the ongoing mass surveillance. Now that the government sensationalizes it suddenly it’s a subject for tv again, too. And suddenly you find people like Anke Domscheit-Berg or Juli Zeh in talk shows. Why not before? It just adds to the impression that the mass surveillance of ‘regular’ citizens poses no problem.
I guess… as government you best do nothing about it, maybe you can find ways to use the surveillance net for yourself. Would be a shame to waste it, now that it has already been built. Now that the magic Merkelphone has been attacked though, we cannot show weakness, we have to react, now it’s ‘us vs them’. According to the Spiegel the government’s reaction now will be to build a stronger counterintelligence and there are thoughts about a german or european walled internet. which means – just in case you do not understand: The german people can feel secured. No, really, cheer, people, you will have been saved by the Merkelphone. All the great risk-taking leaking and journalistic work will turn out to be the perfect argument for an arms-race of security services worldwide. Instead of social changes give them more security. For those who still think there is not enough done for us to be properly secured – don’t worry. Just check out this Reuters piece about partnerships between facebook, Apple and the police. Or read this article (in german) on the german army getting ready for operations within their country. If you think that’s just about lame aid for flood victims, well… maybe read the government’s answer to a minor interpellation from Die Linke here. Oh, I feel so safe now, I’m with Butters.