See TUMonline

The seminar addresses one of the most socio-politically relevant topics of the recent years. The digitalization and continuous technical evolution lead to great chances and potentials for all of us. At the same time criminals, extremists and terrorists also adapt to new technical developments and use encrypted chat-messengers, encrypted calls or other forms of covert communication to plan or even carry out their crimes. To balance this out, security authorities also have to rely on technical surveillance tools so that they can secure the internal security for the society and constitution of a country. The use of such tools is controversial and bears independent risks and dangers that need to be considered in a liberal society. Thereby we need to think about how we, as a society, want to deal with the technical evolution in regards to the internal security and possible tools that can be used There are a lot of fundamental questions to be answered: Can security only be achieved at the expense of each individual’s personal freedom or can we manage to find the right balance between freedom and security? What is the role of the government and to what extent can surveillance tools and other technical developments be justified? The numerous legislative procedures and decisions of the German Supreme Court (BVerfG), regarding topics as the Data Retention, remote forensic search of computers, the surveillance of telecommunication systems and remote access to end devices via infiltration (Staatstrojaner), show that the legal and political interpretation of these questions isn’t easy. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we will examine how the internal security in Germany has changed (especially in regard to the technical possibilities), what Problems arose for the legislator and the political actors and how the process might develop in the future.

After a theoretical introduction (3-5 lessons) different topics are handed to the students. The students autonomously create and prepare presentations that will be presented and discussed in the weekly course.