Interview with Germany's Consumer Protection Minister 'Google Cannot Allow Itself to Make any Further Mistakes' Of course Ilse Aigner googles. The German consumer protection minister, who has recently been one of the most vocal critics of Internet giant Google, is also a user of its services. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Aigner discusses her problems with Street View, the government's plans to regulate geodata and the threat she sees if rules aren't put in place for such services.
'Limits We Should Not Cross' Germany Takes Stand against Patents on Plants and Animals German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner has spoken out against the patenting of varieties of livestock and plants. Her comments come as the European Patent Office prepares to rule in a test case with far-reaching implications for biological patents in Europe.
'Unacceptable' Information Policy Minister Urges Germans to Opt Out of Google Street View Germany's consumer protection minister has long been critical of Google Street View, which displays panoramic pictures of towns, cities and individual homes. Now she has called the company's information policy "unacceptable" and urged Germans to ask for their data to be removed from the service.
Warning Shot for Social Network German Minister Launches Attack on Facebook Plans by Facebook to provide personal data to third parties without asking users for permission are being criticized by a prominent member of the German government. In an open letter to the social networking giant's CEO, Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner threatens to delete her profile if the California company doesn't do more to protect its members' privacy. Von Sebastian Fischer
Taking on the Internet Giants Germany Applies Brakes to Google & Co. The German government has discovered the Internet and data privacy as a political issue. The new debate over who should control the online world reveals a clash of two cultures, with the American ideal of freedom contrasting with the European desire for privacy. By SPIEGEL staff.
'Million-Fold Violation of the Private Sphere' German Minister Takes on Google Street View Many in Berlin have long viewed Google's Street View service with some suspicion. Now, Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner has called for better privacy laws. She says that even intelligence agencies wouldn't "collect photos so unabashedly."
SPIEGEL Interview with German Agriculture Minister Debate on Farming and Climate 'Must Be More Honest' International Green Week begins in Berlin on Thursday and the German government is hosting the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture. Despite the fact that some farming adds to greenhouse gases, German agriculture minister Ilse Aigner says the sector will not be saddled with any emissions goals.
Who Gets EU Agriculture Subsidies? German Minister Blocking Push for Transparency German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner doesn't want to follow an EU directive requiring member states to publish how much individual farmers receive in subsidies. She claims it is a matter of privacy, but some suspect Aigner is aiming to secure votes for her party in the European Parliament. Von Hans-Jürgen Schlamp
The World from Berlin Frankenfood Ban Is 'Neither Populism nor Panic-Mongering' A German ban on genetically modified corn has found broad support in the German public, and protests against a patent on a strain of pig made headlines on Wednesday. German commentators wonder if this is just European technophobia or whether genes are a natural resource which no patent should restrain.
The World From Berlin 'There Was No Reason to Accept The Risks of GM Corn' The German government's decision to ban the cultivation of genetically modified corn has been welcomed by most media commentators in Germany as an overdue step in response to fears that it poses unforeseeable risks. One paper, however, scoffs that "progress has become a dirty word" in Germany.