Nowadays there is no longer a purely analogue, competitive product. “” 

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The President of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Inge Paulini, said that a survey from last year clearly showed that there is a great need for information on the subject of radiation protection among the population. “In the future, we want to provide even more targeted and broader information about the health effects of electromagnetic fields.”

Sources used: dpa news agency website of the competence center

Large collections of data often arouse suspicion. You could do a lot of good with it. With a new data strategy, the federal government wants to work towards a future in which innovations are possible and at the same time clear rules apply. Experts are skeptical whether it will succeed. 

From Google to Amazon to Uber – the most successful and powerful digital companies have their headquarters in the USA. However, your products are used worldwide. In many places you can no longer imagine life without them. At the same time, numerous scandals have shaken user confidence and discredited the business models.  

The federal government wants to counteract this development. With a national data strategy, it wants to promote data-driven innovations and business models “made in Germany” that do not pose a threat to privacy or civil rights. The data strategy should be ready before the summer break and approved by the cabinet. 

Failures should be eliminated

There is a consultation process beforehand. At a meeting in the Federal Chancellery on Thursday, experts from science, administration, business and civil society were invited to make their comments. The hearing was broadcast live. 

For the head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, it is about making up for past failures. “If we fail to establish data-driven business models in Germany, we are putting our economic future at risk,” he said before the meeting at the Chancellery. “Nowadays there is no longer a purely analog, competitive product.” 

Data literacy is to be strengthened

The aim of the data strategy is both to improve access to data and to create clear rules for dealing with it and, for example, to develop secure methods for anonymizing personal data. In addition, the data competence in the population, administration and companies should be strengthened. The state should lead by example in all of this. 

The cornerstones of the federal government’s new data strategy can be read here (PDF). 

Reject state trojan

Net activist Ingo Dachwitz from “Netzpolitik.org” warned the federal government not to focus too much on economic interests. “Anyone who always speaks of data only as a raw material, even calling it ‘oil’ or ‘gold of the future’, should not be surprised that companies would rather hoard it than share it and that people think of data exploitation when the Chancellor speaks of data wealth” he said in the hearing.

In order to win back the trust of the citizens, the federal government must reject surveillance measures such as the state trojan and instead advance its open data strategy and support civil society organizations. 

Artificial intelligence: ” The Federal Government is relying on outdated concepts ”

Two years ago, the federal government presented its national strategy for dealing with artificial intelligence. At the time, experts criticized the paper because it relied on outdated concepts. According to media information, it should now be revised. 

Sources used: Own researchNetzpolitik.org: “Use public data, protect private data”

European cloud, European e-identity, new supercomputers: the EU Commission chief von der Leyen wants digitally high.community essay sample Now your authority is specific.

The European Union wants to create a “digital decade” by investing billions in the next generation of supercomputers and expanding the network infrastructure.

“As we can see in the fight against the corona pandemic, supercomputers are already supporting the search for therapies, the detection and prediction of the spread of infection or the decision-making about containment measures,” said the Vice President of the EU Commission, Margrethe Vestager, in Brussels.

A trillion arithmetic operations per second

That is why eight billion euros are to flow into the next generation of supercomputers in Europe. High-performance computers could also make a contribution to the fight against climate change – for example by helping to make the electricity supply more efficient, Vestager said.

According to the Brussels authority, the billions will allow Europe to operate computers that can perform more than a trillion arithmetic operations per second. In addition, there should be infrastructures that combine so-called quantum computers with classic computers. You can read more about quantum computers in this interview.

Money from multiple sources

The new European supercomputer system is to be financed with 3.5 billion euros from the EU budget and an equally large amount from the national budgets of European countries. Another billion euros would come in cash and kind from non-governmental supporters of the initiative.

In addition to its supercomputer initiative, the Commission also presented a recommendation on Friday to expand broadband connections with very high capacities. “Broadband connections and 5G connectivity form the basis for the ecological and digital transformation of the economy, whether it is about transport and energy, health and education or manufacturing and agriculture,” said Vestager.

Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton noted that investments in this area had nevertheless slowed recently. Breton urged speed when awarding 5G frequencies. The super-fast new radio data transmission not only leads to faster download times for films, he said. Rather, it is necessary for numerous areas such as telemedicine, robotics, artificial intelligence, security, traffic management or energy networks – “everything that is important for us in everyday life”.

“We need to have our data under control”

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had already announced the billions in investments in her State of the Union address on Wednesday. The aim is also to build a European cloud for data storage and a secure European digital identity. With a view to tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook, Vestager said: “We cannot allow a handful of digital companies to define the rules of the game.” Size means economic power and in part endangers competition.

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Vestager announced that the Commission intends to propose a law in December aiming at a single market for digital services based on European values. All citizens would benefit, for example if they could create their tax returns digitally or cash electronic prescriptions in pharmacies across borders. Networked cash register systems would also help to avoid tax fraud. “We have to have our data under control,” stressed Vestager. The e-identity can help here.

Sources used: dpa news agency

Online shops must inform customers about their rights, for example how they can exchange goods. But most providers violate these requirements, as a study by the EU Commission shows.

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Two out of three online shops violate EU consumer rights, as a study by the EU Commission of 500 online shops shows. Most of the violations involved a lack of information about the return policy and warranty.

Non-transparent prices

EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders criticized the online shops and said: “EU rights, such as the right to return goods within 14 days, strengthen online consumer confidence. They should not be buried in the fine print.”

In 66 cases the price of the goods was not correctly stated because delivery costs and other fees were not shown. Some web shops also violated the so-called geoblocking regulation. Accordingly, customers can also order goods in online shops that do not deliver to the customer’s place of residence, provided that the customer can pick up the goods in another country.

Violation of geoblocking ban

This applies to customers who live on a border, for example. For example, if a shop does not deliver to Germany but to France, the customer can have the goods delivered to a post office near the border in France and pick them up there.

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The EU Commission has now announced that it will take action against the affected web shops and ask them to adapt their websites accordingly. Online shops from non-EU countries, such as the USA or China, were not examined.

Sources used: Online shopping: Commission and Consumer Protection authorities urge traders to bring information policy in line with EU law

The federal government threatens to embarrass itself again with a digital project: The digital patient file is so immature from a data protection point of view that the health insurances should warn against its use. Instead of making improvements, the Minister of Health is pushing the pace. 

When electronic patient files are launched in the new year, millions of insured persons face warnings of inadequate data protection. The Federal Data Protection Officer Ulrich Kelber told the German Press Agency that of course he could not give the legislature any specifications and correct any laws. “I can and must, however, intervene if data processing operations at entities that are subject to my supervision violate applicable data protection regulations.” The Ministry of Health said the federal government expressly does not share the concerns.

Use of the e-file is voluntary

Specifically, Kelber plans warnings and instructions to 65 statutory health insurances with a total of 44.5 million insured, over which he has the data protection supervision. Among other things, this aims to ensure that health insurers must send specified “warning texts” to insured persons. The top data protection officer had announced consequences if a data protection law passed by the Bundestag for e-files remains unchanged. On this Friday it will finally come to the Federal Council, and the health committee of the regional chamber recommends that it be approved.

E-files are to be offered to all insured persons for voluntary use from January 1, 2021 and, for example, save findings, X-rays and medication plans. However, it has long been criticized that a somewhat “slimmed-down” version of the access rights is planned for the start.

“All or nothing” approach violates GDPR

In this way, patients can determine which data should actually be in the e-file and which doctor is allowed to see them. More precise access, depending on the doctor, only for individual documents will not come until the beginning of 2022. This forces users to “all or nothing”, Kelber had repeatedly complained – a dentist could see all the findings of a psychiatrist. The opposition also criticizes this.

Kelber said that he was planning to send a warning to the health insurances under his control before January 1, 2021, that a pure law implementation would “lead to a deficit access management contrary to European law”.

“The next step will be instructions.” They are intended to oblige the health insurers to ensure that access management is designed in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by December 31, 2021. In the meantime they should have to send “a given warning text” to insured persons who would like to use their digital files voluntarily.

Health Minister Spahn is pushing the pace

The Ministry of Health stressed that the law had been thoroughly examined by the constitutional departments for justice and home affairs. The e-file is a voluntary application – the health insurers have to inform their insured in advance about how it works. “The insured retain sovereignty over their data.” The announcements by the data protection officer would not prevent the start on January 1, 2021. Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) wants to speed up digitization after years of tussling about more functions of the electronic health card. The e-files are to be gradually given more functions and can also be accessed via smartphone.

Kelber also wants to intervene with a view to IT security – initially by sending a warning to the tills. After January 1, 2021, he will instruct them to offer a “highly” secure procedure by April 30, 2021 at the latest, with which one can register for authorized use. The intended authentication procedures are “not sufficiently secure from a data protection point of view” and do not correspond to the GDPR requirements, he explained in August.

Health insurances in trouble

Kelber emphasized that he expressly supports the digitization of the healthcare system. “It offers huge opportunities for all of us.” However, this must be done on the basis of the GDPR. Therefore, his demand is: “A secure electronic patient file for everyone, where you have your data fully under control.”

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In the current case, he sees that the statutory health insurance companies are in a “special situation”: “They are supposed to implement the laws, but they are in contradiction to European law.” Therefore, he would like a fixed right as Federal Data Protection Officer to be able to submit national standards to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the event of a suspected violation of European law. / P