Germany can keep and maintain its anti-terrorism database with information on 17,000 people, the nation’s top court ruled on Wednesday.
But government officials in charge of it have to tweak certain operations by 2014. Foremost is database overseers must put in place “transparency and control” guidelines that lead to regular reporting to the Parliament, the court ruled, The Associated Press reported.
The database, established in 2007, was under fire from privacy rights advocates who saw the potential for government abuse. Specifically, the court case was brought by claimants who said there were no controls or laws in place that guided how authorities could use the collected information.
The ruling was issued by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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