In episode 198 of “Follow the Rechtsstaat”, Prof. Niko Härting and Dr Stefan Brink discuss the planned data retention scheme, data protection breaches involving Snapchat’s “My AI” chatbot, and the seizure of journalistic materials in connection with the Hamburg Block trial.
Firstly, the focus is on the renewed plans for data retention. Prof. Niko Härting presented the German Bar Association’s criticism of the current draft bill to the German Bundestag’s Legal Affairs Committee. Together with Stefan Brink, he looks back at the long history of data retention and the associated constitutional issues.
The two then turn their attention to a ruling by the Cologne Regional Court concerning the Snapchat chatbot ‘My AI’. The court largely upheld a claim brought by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations against the operator, Snap. The focus is on data protection breaches in connection with the AI chatbot and the handling of personal data.
Finally, Härting and Brink discuss freedom of the press in the Hamburg ‘Block’ trial. The background to this is a seizure order intended to secure audio recordings of a journalistic podcast from *Die Zeit*. The two ask how this procedure can be reconciled with the constitutional protection of journalistic sources and the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court.