German State spies illegally on their employees - don't read all about it - well not in the UK

Deutsche Bahn CEO Apologizes For Spying Scandal

Hartmut Mehdorn controversial and mysterious CEO of Deutches Bahn(DB) the German State Railway company, since 1999 fter a spell at Airbus , is another publicly apologising CEO.(DW)

After a meeting with the DB company's workers' council on Friday in Frankfurt he said ,"DB apologizes to its employees," (which includes UK citizens and Union members who work for what was EWS Ltd - was BR Freight) . Mehdorn said after a meeting with the workers' council on Friday in Frankfurt. The Transnet, GDBA and GDL unions had already been demanding that Mehdorn issue an apology for the two surveillance operations the company has historically conducted on employees.

Mehdorn had conceded that employee representatives should have been involved in the illegal surveillance using private data - it appears that only 600 "trifling" cases were discovered, but there is a suggestion that senior employees somehow were "overlooked".

Deutsche Bahn has already acknowledged that the bank data of 173,000 employees was secretly compared with customer data. They explained this was a clandestine policy to uncover "corrupt practices". The first surveillance sweep was conducted in 2002-2003 and, according to new information confirmed by Deutsche Bahn this week, a second employee investigation was carried out in 2005 on the same number of employees.

Anti-corruption agency Transparency International questios the legality of the surveillance procedures, considering that workers' representatives were not involved, nor were the affected employees informed of the investigations after they took place.

The Ministry of Transport has also announced that the board of directors at Deutsche Bahn has arranged an additional meeting for Feb. 18 to clarify the current state of knowledge bout the 2 known projects. But Ministry spokesman Rainer Lingenthal says this is too late. A quick clarification is desired and will be communicated to the board "in a suitable way."

It has been widely speculated in the German Press that journalists and politicians were also monitored MInister Lingenthal points to a written dismissal regarding this claim from Mehdorn on Jan. 29. But now the "files will be put on the table," says the spokesman and the case will be judged.

Deutsche Telekom also admit illegal spying

On top of this unfolding scandal the country's main telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom (1/3rd State owned) has also admitted to secretly spying on employees to uncover, "suspected cases of corruption."

Deutsche Telekom's data protection advisory board held its first meeting on 9th February.

The Bonn public prosecutor's office has also informed Deutsche Telekom that, after evaluating data relating to the spying scandal, it is now to inform those directly concerned.

In May Deutsche Telekom filed criminal charges as the company had , "become aware of cases of misuse of mobile communications calls."

When filing the charges back in May the company handed over all call data that was still available to the Bonn public prosecutor's office in order to allow them to hold comprehensive investigations. For legal and data privacy reasons, Deutsche Telekom was not permitted to ascertain who was registered as having the telephone numbers affected; as such the public prosecutor's office alone was able to evaluate the call data records it had been given. Deutsche Telekom expects to be informed of the names of other victims in the course of the proceedings.

The Bonn public prosecutor's office has already informed Deutsche Telekom that not only employee representatives on the Supervisory Board and journalists, but also members of works councils and other employees of the Group were apparently victims of data misuse.

Manfred Balz, Member of the Board of Management for Data Privacy, Legal Affairs and Compliance sid today “I have already described one monstrous breach of the free of the press and the right to co-determination. The fact that members of works councils were spied upon, people who uphold employees rights under the protection of the Works Constitution Act and enjoy the explicit confidence of the employees, adds another particularly offensive dimension to these outrageous incidents.”

Yet more apologies

Deutsche Telekom say they will approach the persons concerned as soon as they are aware of their names. The company will then apologize to them in an appropriate form.

UK Press silent on the case -

Just consider the new DVLA TV d campign - , produced
by DLKW through COI, on the subject there is ‘No Way Out for Car Tax Evaders’. It describes
the on-road (al fresco in front of your girlfriend) enforcement
process, from clamping and towing to ultimately crushing your vehicle, that the
DVLA can employ should you fail to pay. ... a young man and his
girlfriend return to their car on their way home from a night out-
attempting to unlock his car door crumples. Explosions / implosions
are a prelude to an invisible crusher , the car begins to crush
itself.

The VO - suitably grim and
official ..... don’t pay your car tax, the DVLA has the power to clamp,
tow, or even crush your car.

End Frame .... the car being crushed to a cube at the man’s feet whilst his
horrified girlfriend looks on.

This slots in alongside the BBC TV Licensing Database ads, this is the simple extension of the interconnected databases, for children, NHS records, HMRC , access to telecoms records, ALL international travel (already collected for travel the US under Privy Council Order in Council) - add our DNA , e-mails, website logins, bank records (the US already reads ALL Swift money transfers).

Now why don't the UK Press want to publish how the German State owned industries snoop on employees, journalists ..... even their UK resident employees. Hnds up if you work for E-0n , RWE , EDF , Swiss Post Office , DHL (Bundespost)....

POSTSCRIPT : To illustrate the point we chose to direct readers to Stef's posting "It's all in the Database" with the BBC Database You Tube version of the ad.... well wudja bleeve it .... it's no longer there ...."improper use" etc, etc.,

Make do with this from the Auto Trader - money well spent ...

Freedom of Information ? Not from yer MP or yer Paid for Peer pal.

Hansard 19 Jan 2007 : Column 1115
Remaining Private Members’ Bills
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

Bill read a Second Time, and committed to a Public Bill Committee, pursuant to Standing Order No. 63 (Committal of Bills).

It took until Burns Day, Thursday January 25th for the press -
in the shape of the Guradian's Westminster correspondent David Henceck to realise how David Maclean, (another bloody Scot) the former Tory chief whip's , private member's bill had sneaked through on the nod.

The the brief two-clause bill is passed it removes both Houses of Parliament as public authorities obliged to release information under the act from any obkigation to do so. It also protects all MPs' correspondence from release and stops authorities even being able to confirm or deny whether they have received a letter from an MP.

Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, who celebrated a win at the information tribunal recently forcing the disclosure of more details of MPs' travel expenses, said to the Guradian.

" This proposal is outrageous. What particularly amazes me is that everyone knows government whips can easily object to a private member's bill and stop it going anywhere. In this case the government whips were silent, which I can only assume means they are secretly sympathetic to this proposal as it fits in with their plans to curb the Freedom of Information Act."

The Index on Censorship writes about the BIll and highlights that not only us the UK Gubment out of step but marching inthe wring direction.

"The bill now seeks to put MPs beyond the reach of the Act, when surely they should be the most accountable individuals in the UK. In addition, it proposes that Parliament as a whole, the most important of all our public institutions, be exempted from the Act.

This would put the UK out of step even with the newest and most fragile European democracies, such as Bosnia and Serbia, who have recently legislated to open up their parliaments to public scrutiny. "

You are invited to write to your MP because ...

If the bill becomes law, an absurd specatcle will result where all correspondence on matters of public policy - say, a hospital closure, a PFI venture, a proposed wind farm - will be available under the Act - except for MPs’ correspondence. The most directly accountable public figures in the country will enjoy a protection denied to their constituents, other Gubment bodies, commercial firms and their representatives, charities, Trade Unions ......

That was the day of course when everybody got excited, and the Press diverted because the Rochdale Labour Party selected Mr Simon Danczuk, from 30 candidates on a 78% turnout. Previously campaign manager for Rossendale MP Janet Anderson at the 2005 general election,member of Labour’s North West regional board and GMB union member for 20 years.

He also founded The Big Issue North West and in 1999 he co-founded Vision Twentyone, a Manchester-based agency which carries out social and political research with not-for-profit sector, including councils, trade unions, Government Departments, and regeneration bodies with winsome, pert and pretty Ruth Turner who also was mentioned in the Press that day.

You can contact Simon at simon.danczuk@visiontwentyone.co.uk, or on 0161 200 8000