Security and freedom must always be struck in the right balance, said the parliamentary group leader of the Hessian SPD, Günter Rudolph, in the state parliament.
He commented on Interior Minister Peter Beuth's (CDU) plan to expand video surveillance at danger points.
The question of data retention, which the European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday, is also about the balancing demanded by the Social Democrats.
Beuth and the Hessian Minister of Justice Roman Poseck (CDU) then emphasized that the decision would enable investigators to access stored IP addresses for the purpose of prosecuting child pornography on the Internet in the future.
On the other hand, the FDP and the left in the state parliament were pleased that data retention without cause had been declared illegal.
Right to informational self-determination
The SPD parliamentary group kept a low profile and left its state chairwoman, the Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, alone in her fight against child abuse.
In the forthcoming legislative process to implement the verdict, she now has to assert herself against the extremely liberal Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) and parts of her own parliamentary group.
In the debate about video surveillance, too, Federal Minister Faeser and her parliamentary group are not on the same page.
Rudolph emphasized the citizen's right to informational self-determination and castigated Beuth's plans.
Faeser, on the other hand, only emphasized the importance of video surveillance at focal points on Wednesday.
The message was that the rule of law should not be fooled.
The fact that she doesn't seem to impress anyone in the Hessian social democracy gives food for thought.
After all, Faeser is still considered the likely top candidate for her party in next year's state elections.
A little more solidarity would probably not hurt the joint venture.