Bundestag Gives German Spies Power to Hack and Disrupt, Passing the Intelligence Reform 308 to 190

The domestic service, the BfV, gains powers to access IT systems and to use biometric matching and AI tools, though its interventions are covert and exclude coercion against individuals. Al Jazeera gave the example of deleting stolen information from an attacker's server. An Independent Control Council takes over preliminary judicial-style review and data protection oversight, and parliamentary reporting duties are strengthened.

Why did Germany change the law now?

The government argued that agencies could sometimes identify a threat but lacked the authority to act. Chancellery minister Nina Warken called it the largest reform of intelligence law in the country's history, and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said it makes the services real intelligence agencies with operational capabilities. Al Jazeera tied the change to the pressure of Russia's war and a hybrid campaign: in August an explosive-laden drone was found near a cargo plane of the Ukrainian firm Antonov Airlines at Leipzig-Halle airport. Berlin linked it to Russia, which denied involvement.

Who opposes the new spy law?

The Left's Clara Buenger warned of a "new German secret police" and AI-driven mass surveillance and said the law would face constitutional challenges. The Greens' Konstantin von Notz said his group backed the BND law and the control council but rejected the BfV part, citing biometric matching without thresholds and the use of minors as informants. The AfD called the law an attack on the rule of law.

Experts heard by the committee on 12 October were split, with several raising objections on data retention, the separation of intelligence and police work and the BfV's powers, and others calling the reform largely necessary and defensible. The Bundestag also passed a resolution committing it to bring a bill next year to strengthen its Parliamentary Control Panel. Al Jazeera quoted one analyst who said a broader public debate may still come once the powers take effect.