(de-news.net) – According to information circulated in German media, the governing parties are preparing legislation that would obligate internet service providers to retain a defined set of customer data for a minimum period of three months. The planned retention regime would encompass IP addresses, unique identifiers associated with individual connections, and time‑stamped allocation records that document the assignment of these addresses with precision down to the second. Reports indicate that Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig emphasized the initiative’s overarching objective of strengthening the state’s capacity to investigate and prosecute offenses committed in digital environments. She reportedly underscored that perpetrators engaged in illegal hate speech, online fraud schemes, and the distribution or production of child sexual abuse material had, in many instances, avoided accountability due to insufficient traceability. Hubig rejected objections raised by privacy advocates, asserting that the proposed framework would not allow the creation of movement or personality profiles and that the confidentiality of communications would remain fully protected under the new rules.

The draft legislation containing these provisions has been circulated among federal ministries to obtain interdepartmental feedback before being submitted to the Bundestag, where the government aims to secure parliamentary approval in the spring. The proposal assigns primary responsibility to Hubig and is presented as a direct implementation of commitments outlined in the coalition agreement. Under the draft, providers would be required to store IP addresses, connection identifiers, and precise temporal data documenting the beginning and end of public address assignments, along with additional technical information deemed necessary for investigative purposes, for no less than three months. Government officials argue that such retention is essential to enable law‑enforcement authorities to pursue sexual offenders and other cybercriminals more effectively, particularly in cases where rapid data deletion has previously impeded investigations. Hubig reiterated that the concerns of data‑protection advocates had been thoroughly addressed, framing the legislative effort as a long‑delayed but necessary modernization of digital law‑enforcement capabilities — an assessment she grounded in her professional experience as a former prosecutor.