The German Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung (German Working Group on Data Retention) initiated demonstrations, pickets and other actions successfully in more than 40 German cities today. As the demo leader of the demonstration in Leipzig, I can just say wow. We’ve never thought to get so many people on the streets – we expected a few hundreds, but unofficial counts say we’ve had more than 1500 participants. What a big success!
There are some low-resolution images available, audio and video will follow shortly. Also, our press representative Eric wrote a quick summary (in German).
Now, whats next? Its obvious that the German law on data retention will go through the Bundestag by Friday (9th Nov), with only small changes such as the starting date when internet service providers have to store all our data (this has been pushed back another year to January 1st, 2009), but still, the criticism remains and our actionism as well: The next big thing after the introduction of the data retention will be a claim in front of the Bundesverfassungsgericht. More than 7000 people signed this already and I expect at least a few hundreds more by today.