Data Retention for IP Addresses Planned
title: "Brief Update: IT & Digital News from December 22, 2025" date: 2025-12-22 source: Heise Online – Podcast "Brief Update" author: Heise Editorial Team / Gregor Schollmeyer
Brief Update delivers daily the most important news on IT, Mobile, Gadgets, Network Policy and Science – narrated with the synthetic voice of Isabel Grünewald.
Here is the early edition from Monday, December 22, 2025, summarized and contextualized.
🛡️ Data Retention for IP Addresses Planned
Federal Minister of Justice Stephanie Hubig is planning the introduction of new data retention for IP addresses.
Internet providers will be required to store for three months which internet connection an IP address was assigned to at a specific time. A corresponding draft law has already been sent to other ministries.
Hubig justifies the initiative by stating that perpetrators of child pornography, online fraud and hate crimes often cannot be identified. IP addresses are frequently the only usable digital traces.
Criticism comes from data protection advocates and civil rights organizations: They warn of indiscriminate mass surveillance and further erosion of fundamental rights. Previous attempts at data retention had repeatedly failed in Germany and at the EU level.
In parallel, there are efforts at the EU level to make storage obligations of up to one year mandatory.
👉 Source:
https://heise.de/-11122442
🚕 Power Outage Disables Waymo Robotaxis
A power outage in San Francisco on Saturday also disabled the self-driving taxis of :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}.
Since numerous traffic lights were without power, the autonomous vehicles apparently lost their orientation. The robotaxis stopped en masse in the middle of the street, blocked intersections and junctions, and turned on their hazard lights.
Waymo subsequently shut down operations completely to protect passengers and not hinder emergency responders. The power outage temporarily affected around 130,000 customers.
👉 Source:
https://heise.de/-11122307
💰 Federal Council Demands Digital Levy for Tech Corporations
The Federal Council is calling on the federal government to introduce a digital levy for large tech companies. The goal is to secure the economic foundations of media diversity in Germany, which are under severe pressure from the market power of international platform operators.
Only very large online platforms and search engines with more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU would be affected.
The revenue should be used for designated purposes – particularly to promote local and regional media offerings.
To ensure independence from the state, the state media authorities should take over the administration of the funds.
👉 Source:
https://heise.de/-11122127
🕵️ Reform of BND Law: Federal Trojans & Active Countermeasures
The Federal Chancellery is planning a comprehensive reform of the law for the :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1} (BND).
In the future, agents of the foreign intelligence service should be allowed to:
- enter residences to secretly install federal trojans on IT systems,
- thereby specifically circumvent encryption,
- as well as conduct operational follow-up measures.
The plan also includes allowing the BND to take active countermeasures against cyberattacks on German targets. This includes physical manipulations of enemy devices or weapons systems abroad.
Additionally, the use of Artificial Intelligence, such as for data analysis and facial recognition, should be legally established.
👉 Source:
https://heise.de/-11121838
🧪 China Reports Progress in EUV Lithography
China reportedly completed the first functioning prototype of an EUV lithography system in early 2025.
EUV ("Extreme Ultraviolet") is a key technology for manufacturing state-of-the-art semiconductors with extremely fine transistor structures.
So far, the Dutch company :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2} is the only serial manufacturer of such equipment worldwide.
The Chinese prototype was reportedly created through reverse engineering and using components from ASML.
However, the system still has significant weaknesses and currently cannot produce functioning chips. Internal planning envisions serial production from 2028 – though project participants consider this goal unrealistic.
👉 Source:
https://heise.de/-11121872
🔗 Further Information
These and other current news can be found in detail on
:contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
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