Image: Victor Mogyldea / shutterstock.com
What's going wrong in digital Germany?
Hard to believe, but apparently a reality: personal data of top German politicians and heads of authorities is being openly offered for sale online. According to a "Spiegel" investigation, the mobile numbers of CDU leader Friedrich Merz and BSI President Claudia Plattner are among them.
Data trading with contact details may be nothing new - but when even the country's top IT security chief is affected, the question inevitably arises: How secure is Germany digitally?
Data deal with state danger?
According to the BSI, these are so-called sales intelligence platforms, i.e. data traders that appear reputable at first glance - they often use their information for marketing, recruiting or analysis. But what is being sold can be highly explosive: telephone numbers, email addresses, possibly even professional networks and movement data of people in security-relevant functions.
According to Der Spiegel, the tip-off came from Italy - a whistleblower there had discovered similar abuses at the same providers and informed the authorities. The research shows that this is not an accidental leak, but apparently systematic data collection - including from German authorities.
"Not secret - but sensitive": is this the new normal?
The official reaction? Deliberative. A BSI spokeswoman explains that politicians' mobile numbers "cannot be secret per se" - after all, they have to be reachable in their day-to-day work. A perfectly understandable point. However, this opens the door to cyber attacks, social engineering, espionage or simply: annoying, constant calls.
The reality is that anyone working in politics or administration today is a digital target - whether they are the Federal Chancellor or a clerk in the Ministry of Defense. Warnings of state-controlled cyber attacks are increasing, and yet many authorities and politicians seem surprisingly unaffected when it comes to IT security.
Anyone who sells sensitive data is acting criminally - period.
The fact that in Germany in 2025, top politicians and heads of authorities will not even be able to know their cell phone number for sure is not an "embarrassing isolated case". It is a structural failure.
What is being sold here under the guise of business intelligence is extremely dangerous. Anyone who sells information about politicians is not only abusing data protection, but also opening the door to blackmail, disinformation and digital attacks - especially in times of political uncertainty.
And the reaction? A few diplomatic phrases and ongoing checks. The digital fire alarm should be ringing here. When even the Federal Office for Information Security is affected, data protection is no longer undermined - it's riddled with holes.
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