December 2011

Organizations and regulators across Europe, including Germany, have started looking into the use of Carrier IQ's tracking software, to ensure that mobile phone vendors and operators are not violating users' privacy.

The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection has sent a letter to Apple questioning the company about its use of Carrier IQ's software. Thomas Kranig, president of the Bavarian data protection office, said: "The most important thing to me is that users know how their data is used, and if that isn't the case there is a problem." He wouldn't comment on the letter's contents, but expects an answer from Apple within about two weeks. "Normally, Apple employees in Germany have to talk to the U.S. before they can say anything, so we have to wait," said Kranig.

While America’s online industries continue to deal with the specter of SOPA — a series of laws that rights-holders champion but technologists say are “poorly defined” and risky — things are a little different in Europe. At the highest level, it seems that European officials are trying to enshrine network neutrality and adopt a pro-technology position. Earlier this year commissioner Neelie Kroes said ‘open internet principles’ should be followed. And last week Derrick detailed how the European Court of Justice struck down a Belgian ruling that would have forced ISPs to monitor data.

A cross-party group of German MPs is working on recommendations to improve phone and internet services provided for German soldiers on overseas postings.

EADS subsidiary Astrium was awarded a contract by the German government in July to provide a communications system for soldiers serving in Afghanistan at the port of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The standard tariff for internet access is EUR 0.05 per minute, which supports e-mail access. The Premium I-nternet service, which supports Skype access, costs EUR 17.40 per hour. The Department of Defense provides soldiers with 30 free minutes of calls, after which they pay EUR 0.21-EUR 0.39 per minute. However, the high cost has resulted in many complaints from serving soldiers, leading to the cross-party group to call for services to be cheaper or completely free.