Public safety
The Bundesnetzagentur is responsible for tasks from Part 7 Chapter 3 of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG) and thereby for safeguarding the interests of public safety. In addition to monitoring compliance with this chapter, the Bundesnetzagentur also sets requirements, for example in catalogues, technical directives and administrative orders, and performs operational tasks such as making customer data highly available for security authorities.
Customer data for information requests
Customer data as set out in section 111 TKG form the basis for the automated and manual information procedures of sections 112 and 113 TKG and must be collected for this purpose by the telecommunications company. The data consist of, for example, the name, address and date of birth of the subscriber.
In an administrative order the Bundesnetzagentur specifies other procedures for checking the accuracy of the collected data of prepaid mobile services subscribers.
Customer data as defined in section 3 para 3 TKG compose the database for the manual information procedure set out in section 113 TKG and are voluntarily collected by the telecommunications companies in accordance with section 95 TKG as part of their provision of telecommunications services.
Automated and manual information procedures for customer data
With the automated information procedure (AAV) as set out in section 112 TKG the Bundesnetzagentur provides a legally sound and established investigative tool for legally authorised bodies such as police departments, state offices of criminal investigation, federal and state security authorities, as well as emergency service centres. Through the AAV, the telecommunications companies’ customer data - collected and verified in accordance with section 111 TKG - are available via an automated and highly secure system 24 hours a day.
Apart from the AAV, authorised bodies also have the manual information procedure as set out in section 113 TKG at their disposal. In addition to the customer data, the aforementioned bodies and other authorised bodies can access the voluntarily collected customer data as set out in section 111 TKG directly at the telecommunications companies, either in writing or via an electronic interface stipulated by the Bundesnetzagentur in accordance with section 113(7) sentence 2 TKG.
Information procedure for traffic data
Traffic data stored pursuant to section 96 and sections 113a and 113b TKG can also be accessed by authorised bodies on the basis of judicial orders. This takes place in accordance with section 110 TKG directly between authorised bodies and the telecommunications companies via an electronic interface stipulated by the Bundesnetzagentur.
In addition to telecommunication companies having the option of storing traffic data within the framework of providing telecommunications services as set out in section 96 TKG, they also have an obligation to store traffic data under sections 113a and 113b TKG, for which the Bundesnetzagentur has laid down particularly strict provisions for secure storage and access.
Implementation of intercepts
Section 110 TKG sets out the telecommunications companies’ obligations in preparing and implementing judicially ordered interception measures. It stipulates how the authorised bodies must be granted access to the telecommunications to be intercepted. The Bundesnetzagentur specifies exact organisational framework conditions and technical interfaces for the direct transmission between the telecommunications companies and the authorised bodies, and reviews the implementation.
Technical safeguards
Any person operating a public telecommunications network or providing publicly available telecommunications services must make appropriate technical arrangements or take other measures and must draw up a security concept to protect the telecommunications and data processing systems operated for such purpose. Significant security breaches pursuant to section 109(5) TKG must be reported.
Information on the security requirements for the operation of telecommunications networks and data processing systems, for processing personal data as the basis for creating a security concept, and for the technical arrangements to be made and the other measures to be taken is kept in a catalogue of security requirements in compliance with section 109(6) sentence 1 TKG.
Faults in telecommunications systems and telecommunications service fraud
Section 100 TKG allows telecommunications service providers to process customer and traffic data in order to locate faults or fraudulent use of their systems.
The service provider is required to report to the Bundesnetzagentur and the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) any intervention involving a non-automated collection and the use of traffic or control data that are part of an IT protocol for data transmission.
Emergency calls
Section 108(3) TKG states that the technical details are to be stipulated by the Bundesnetzagentur while taking the provisions of the Ordinance on Emergency Calls (NotrufV) into account.
Unless noted otherwise, the following linked pages are currently available in German only.
- Automated information procedure
- Data for information requests
- Catalogue of security requirements
- Security breach reporting
- Traffic data storage
- Interception measures and provision of information
- Administrative order in accordance with section 111(1) sentence 4 (TKG)
- Faults in telecommunications systems and telecommunications service fraud section 100
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