The Bundesnachrichtendienst turns seventy today. Germany's foreign intelligence service was established on April 1, 1956, in Pullach, Bavaria. The compound was previously occupied by a different German intelligence organisation.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz installed the new chief, Martin Jager, on September 11, 2025. Merz, at the inauguration ceremony: "Never in post-war German history has the security situation of our country and our continent been so serious."
Jager has noted that the service enjoys "unprecedented political support." A new BND law is in preparation.
On April 22, the German cabinet approved mandatory IP address storage. Internet service providers must retain all IP addresses they assign for three months. The law goes to the Bundestag for debate.
Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig: "Many European states already have such a rule. It is time we follow." Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the measure does not create a transparent citizen or a transparent net.
Clara Bunger of Die Linke described it as "mass surveillance through the back door." Bunger noted that fibre connections retain data for technical reasons for up to fourteen months. This is in the parliamentary record. The legal limit and the technical reality are different numbers.
On January 8, NDR, WDR, and Suddeutsche Zeitung reported the contents of a draft BND law. The draft has not yet been brought before the Bundestag.
The draft proposes: storage of up to thirty per cent of internet traffic passing through surveillance points including DE-CIX Frankfurt, for six months. Not metadata. Content.
DE-CIX Frankfurt is one of the largest internet exchange points in the world. The BND is already there. The law does not build the infrastructure. It extends the terms under which the existing infrastructure may be used.
The draft additionally proposes legal authority for the BND to access systems of providers that decline to cooperate voluntarily. Google, Meta, and X are cited. Journalist protection would be reduced for employees of state media from authoritarian states. These individuals are described as "effectively acting on behalf of a regime." The definition of "state media" is not specified. The BND's application of this definition would not be subject to prior review.
On April 23, the Bavarian State Criminal Office announced the arrest of two men on April 12 on the A6 motorway near Neuendettelsau, Middle Franconia.
The two men -- a Latvian national aged 45 and a Ukrainian national aged 43 -- were identified by the Bavarian State Police at a routine motorway checkpoint. Items found in their vehicle: forged identity documents, cameras, a drone, GPS trackers, radio equipment, and multiple mobile phones with SIM cards.
The men had no fixed residence in Germany. They were traveling toward Waidhausen, in the direction of Pilsen. They are in pre-trial detention on suspicion of agent activity for sabotage purposes. No information on the handler has been provided.
The Bavarian State Police conducted the operation. The BND was not involved.
The announcement was made on the BND's seventieth anniversary.
Pieter van Aarden, chief executive of Bastion Industrial Partners, was asked about the relationship between digital identity infrastructure and surveillance capacity. He said: "The infrastructure question is always the same question. Who controls the pipe?"
The Prompt submitted a request for comment to the BND press office. A routing log noted a Sussex address in the delivery chain before the request was received.
The BND did not respond to questions about what it intends to do with the additional capabilities. The anniversary celebrations were not open to press.
A bottle of Remy Martin XO retails at approximately EUR 180.
E. Halberd Filed from Sussex.