The protection of the constitution
The right to information at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is a domestic intelligence service of the Federal Government and is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community. Its tasks and powers are governed by the Federal Act on the Protection of the Constitution (BVerfSchG) and the Security Clearance Check Act (SÜG). According to Section 3 of the BVerfSchG, the BfV's tasks include among others collecting and evaluating information on efforts directed against the free democratic basic order or on intelligence activities for a foreign power (counterintelligence).
For the purpose of fulfilling its tasks, the BfV is allowed to process personal data. For this reason, extensive data collections are kept at the BfV, among others including the Intelligence Information System NADIS, a joint file of the BfV and the state offices for the protection of the constitution.
Pursuant to Section 15 (1) BVerfSchG, you have the right to receive information free of charge about the data stored about you at the BfV. In your request to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, you must refer to a specific fact concerning which the data, about which you are requesting information, have presumably been collected. This may be the case, for example, if you participated in a demonstration or have contacts with an association observed by the BfV. In addition, it is necessary that you show a particular interest. This interest exists, for example, if there are indications that data relating to your person have been unlawfully processed or are incorrect.
In order to verify your person and to avoid any misuse of your data by unauthorised persons, your request for information to the BfV must be accompanied by a hand-signed copy of your identity card (front and back) or of your passport. In this context, the hand-signed copy of the ID must generally only contain the name, address, date of birth and the period of validity of the ID card. The remaining information can be blackened. You should send your request to:
Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz
(Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution)
Merianstraße 100
50765 Cologne
Further contact details and contact form of the BfV: here
Under certain conditions, the BfV can refuse to comply with your right to information if, for example, it is to be feared that by providing information to you, the performance of tasks is jeopardized, or that the BfV’s currently available information could be investigated. This also applies to the threat to public security or to sources as well as to the need for confidentiality of queried data.
You can appeal against the rejection of information. In addition, the BfV must inform you that in parallel, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). If this happens, the BfV must provide the BfDI with the information previously refused to you, unless the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community determines in the individual case that the information to the BfDI jeopardises the security of the Federal Government or a Land [“Federal State”] (so-called clause on the security interest of the state). Within the scope of its powers to carry out reviews and controls, the BfDI checks the lawfulness of the processing of the data and provides you with information about the outcome. However, information provided to you by the BfDI are limited insofar as they must not allow any conclusions about the BfV’s currently available information.
Please also note that the appeal to the BfDI does not suspend the opposition period, i.e. if you consider submitting an objection, you should do so within the opposition period, if necessary in parallel with the appeal to the BfDI.
You can also contact the BfDI directly if you believe that the processing of your personal data by the BfV infringes your rights. In this case, too, the information listed above must be provided so that the BfDI can process your request quickly. You should send your request to:
Der Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit
(Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information)
Graurheindorferstr. 153, 53117 Bonn
Telephone: + 49 (0)228-997799-0
E-mail: poststelle@bfdi.bund.de
De-mail: poststelle@bfdi.de-mail.de
Important to know: The obligation to provide information pursuant to Section 15(2) BVerfSchG expressly does not extend to the origin of the data or to the recipients of data transfers. Therefore, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution does not have to disclose where a personal data item came from or to whom it was transmitted!