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Privacy Advocate: Little Sisters Replacing Big Brother in Germany

Interview: Stephanie RaisonSeptember 25, 2007

In the lead up to Germany's 2011 census the nation's Association for Data Protection warns the public to keep an eye on the government's census preparations.

https://p.dw.com/p/BjBR
An unidentified person shows the official questionaires for West Germany's 1987 census
Germany's 1987 census was compulsory, but what about in 2011?Image: AP

Twenty years after calls to boycott the 1987 West German census for fear of government surveillance, there has been hardly a whisper in response to the proposed 2011 census.

But the German Association for Data Protection is one of the groups trying to raise awareness of the approaching census. Association board member and privacy consultant, Roland Schäfer, said that while he was not against the census, he did have three concerns about how it will be conducted and what will happen to the data collected.

Click the audio link below to hear the interview.

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