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Germany : VERIZON contract ended by Germany
Publish Date : 01-Jul-2014
A contract with Verizon is cancelled by the German government over fears the company could be letting US intelligence agencies eavesdrop on official communications.
The Interior Ministry stated that it will let its present contract for internet services with the New York-based company expire in 2015.
The declaration comes that Verizon and British company Colt offered internet services to the German parliament and other official entities.
Germany has been at the front position of international outrage over alleged electronic eavesdropping by the US National Security Agency and Britain's GCHQ, revealed last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said that Germany wants to ensure it has full control over highly sensitive government communications networks. Verizon didn't instantly respond to a request for comment.
Verizon's general counsel Randal Milch said that the US government could not compel the American telco giant to hand over customer data stored outside of the United States. However, privacy experts questioned Verizon's take on the issue.
Douwe Korff, professor of international law at London Metropolitan University, at the time said, "Verizon's lawyer is arguing the international legal position, but he seems to assume that the US courts — in particular, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court — is going to be as respectful of international sovereignty as international law would like the US to be". "Verizon is right in terms of what the law should be, but [Milch is] totally wrong as to how the law should be applied in practice."
