No majority for proposal to combat cybercrime

A bill from Bavaria to combat cybercrime was voted on in plenary on June 28, 2019, but did not receive the required absolute majority.

A motion from North Rhine-Westphalia was submitted on the same topic – it also failed to receive a majority.

What Bavaria had proposed

Bavaria had called for higher penalties and further investigative powers for law enforcement agencies to better combat cybercrime offenses.

Data misuse through digitalization

Bavaria justified its move by pointing to the many opportunities for misuse inherent in advancing digitization. Cybercrime is reaching a level that massively affects people’s privacy and sense of security, he said. Hacker attacks on computer systems were increasingly causing economic damage through production downtime or access to trade secrets.

Data less protected than objects

Current law does not adequately protect data from misuse. Computer crimes are too weakly punishable compared to property crimes. However, this is not a petty crime, so the penalties must be increased.

Server monitoring and online search

To enable law enforcement agencies to conduct more effective digital investigations, Bavaria called for cybercrimes to be included in the catalog of telecommunications surveillance. This would allow online searches and server monitoring if there is initial suspicion.