Prof. Niko Härting

AI training data, the Digital Omnibus, the protection of children’s biometric data and freedom of assembly are the focus of episode 191.

Professor Niko Härting talks to Thomas Fuchs, the Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner, about Meta’s smart glasses, the limits of the household exemption and the future of data protection supervision.

Data protection and security, independent public prosecutors’ offices, Meta’s smart glasses and GDPR claims against tax authorities: the topics covered in episode 193.

Admittedly, the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) is not the focus of the government’s draft bill on the reform of the intelligence services. However, this is due less to its small size – it is the smallest of the three German intelligence services – and more to the fact that a fundamental reform of the Military Counter-Intelligence Service Act (MADG) came into force on 16 January 2026 (see Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 7, p. 37). Nevertheless, the draft also contains substantial amendments to the MADG which, from the perspective of those affected, give cause for criticism.

How much transparency is required – and when does it go too far? Episode 192 looks at distance learning, the publication of shareholder data and freedom of information in academia.

The planned reform of intelligence service legislation has raised serious concerns within the German Bar Association (DAV). Substantial amendments are required during the legislative process to address the significant constitutional concerns. This is evident from the DAV’s statement of 2 September 2026, to which Niko Härting contributed.

In episode 190 of “Follow the Rechtsstaat”, Prof. Niko Härting and Dr Stefan Brink discuss a domain dispute between law firms, gambling law, Meta’s smart glasses and a serious security breach in a prayer app. First up is a ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Cologne dated 22 July 2026. A law firm had registered the German version of another firm’s domain name and redirected visitors to its own website. The Higher Regional Court deemed the registration and use of the third-party domain to be a breach of competition law. Härting and Brink then discuss a ruling by the Halle Administrative Court concerning the administrative practices of the Joint Gambling Authority of the German federal states. The conversation then turns once again to Meta’s smart glasses and a criminal complaint filed by HateAid against Meta and Ray-Ban. Finally, the pair discuss a security breach in the official prayer app ‘Click to Pray’, through which the personal data of around 720,000 registered users is said to have been accessible without authentication.

In episode 189 of “Follow the Rechtsstaat”, Prof. Niko Härting and Dr Stefan Brink discuss the rising number of cases before the social courts, state surveillance powers and current calls for the regulation of the digital sphere. First, the two take a look at the significant rise in the number of cases filed with the Bavarian social courts. They then turn to the security debate and the question of how police surveillance powers should be assessed overall. One of the catalysts for this discussion is a pilot study on what is known as a ‘comprehensive surveillance assessment’. In the final section, Härting and Brink discuss nine proposals for better management of the digital space. Among other things, they address the power of large US technology companies in the field of artificial intelligence, as well as the question of whether platform users should be required to identify themselves in future.