Today sees the launch of a series of discussions on IT security for consumer protection to be held by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community.

The event will take place at the justice ministry, where Gerd Billen, a state secretary at that ministry, and Klaus Vitt, a state secretary at the interior ministry, will hold talks with senior representatives from business and civil society (including web service providers) on options to improve technical protection measures and raise consumer awareness. The interior ministry will also present its concept for an IT security label to be given to internet-enabled consumer goods and services. The label is designed to help consumers assess the security of products before they buy them, thus increasing transparency.

The aim of the dialogue is to identify ways to improve existing measures and make it easier for consumers to use online products and services.

As State Secretary Klaus Vitt explained: "Cybersecurity is the responsibility of all involved, and it is in all of our interests. The initiative we are launching today brings together representatives from government, business and civil society to better protect citizens online."

State Secretary Gerd Billen said: "As recent data breaches and doxing incidents have shown, the publication of private data regularly infringes individuals’ right to privacy and makes people fear for their safety. This is unacceptable, and we will use these discussions to share and develop solutions to protect consumers."

The series of talks held by the two ministries reflects a commitment in the Coalition Agreement to raising awareness among citizens and small businesses of the risks that they face online. A “doxing” incident that took place from December 2018 to January 2019 saw the mass release of personal information – in some cases highly sensitive – belonging to German politicians and other people in the public eye. The incident highlighted once a gain the importance of effective and easy-to-implement consumer protection measures, as well as the need for awareness-raising.