German man posting politics on facebook gets visit from secret service

[Melinda]

Aside: This site is all about German news in English - sweet! Now, the story:

A German man who called on Facebook friends concerned about American secret service operations to join him in a walk around a US army spy centre near his home, found secret service men at his door checking his political leanings.

Daniel Bangert, 28, told The Local he had joked about US spies reading what he had written - and had even told his friends he was waiting for a knock on the door - when it actually came.

"I was still very sleepy when the phone rang - it was 7.17 in the morning - and a police officer started asking questions about what I was planning," he said.

"Then the doorbell rang and I saw out the window that a police van was parked outside. The officer on the phone said I should open the door to the others."

Much more at http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130715-50859.html#.UeQdzepz85s.reddit

Moral of story... Probably not a good idea to post politically, even if in jest, on facebook. Scary stuff.

[JDPriestly]

1. Same source another interesting article.

Only 49 percent of survey respondents saw the US as a trustworthy partner, down from 65 percent before the spy claims and the lowest level since George W. Bush was president, the survey said.

The phone poll of 1,005 random respondents was conducted by ARD public television between July 1st and 3rd.

More than two thirds of those polled feared that their government would be unable to protect them against the alleged mass email, web, and phone record snooping by US intelligence services.

. . . .

More than half of respondents said secret service surveillance was necessary to prevent terrorist attacks. But 61 percent said they were surprised at the reported scale of the US and UK spy programmes.


http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130705-50701.html