Germany considers dumping e-mail to combat spying

[Jar Jar Binks]

Typewriters dusted off: Germany considers dumping e-mail to combat spying

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 16 July, 2014, 10:28pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 16 July, 2014, 10:28pm

The Guardian

The typewriter could make a return. Photo: SCMP

German politicians are considering a return to manual typewriters for sensitive documents after the US surveillance scandal.

The head of the parliamentary inquiry into US National Security Agency (NSA) activity in Germany said in an interview with the Morgenmagazin TV programme that consideration was being given to abandoning e-mail.

Asked "Are you considering typewriters?", the Christian Democrat politician Patrick Sensburg said: "As a matter of fact, we have, and not electronic models either."

During the continuing row over alleged US spying, there had been speculation that the CIA may have targeted the Bundestag's NSA inquiry committee.

"Unlike other inquiry committees, we are investigating an ongoing situation. Intelligence activities are still going on, they are happening," Sensburg said.

According to German media, revelations about digital surveillance have triggered a rethink about how the government conducts its communications.

"Above all, people are trying to stay away from technology whenever they can," wrote Die Welt. "Those concerned talk less on the phone, prefer to meet in person. More coffees are being drunk and lunches eaten together. Even the walk in the park is enjoying a revival."

But as clever as the Germans' latest tactic seems, using typewriters wouldn't necessarily make communications spy-proof. Before computers, spying was done the old-fashioned way, and there's no reason why it can't be done that way again, according to Vince Houghton, an expert on intelligence history at the International Spy Museum in Washington.

Additional reporting by The Washington Post