The German Federal Cabinet, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), has approved a new legislative mandate requiring internet providers to store the IP addresses of all citizens for a period of three months. To its supporters, this is a decisive move to restore law and order to the digital sphere.
The measure—a cornerstone of the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition agreement—is designed to end the era of digital anonymity for criminals, according to its advocates.
Chancellor Merz justified the initiative as a moral necessity, specifically citing the need to eradicate the unpunished distribution of child pornography and to provide law enforcement with the tools required to track perpetrators of online fraud and cybercrime.
While the bill still faces a vote in the Bundestag, its passage is virtually guaranteed given the Grand Coalition’s significant majority.
Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has emphasized that the measure is a proportionate response that respects the confidentiality of communication while ensuring that security authorities can no longer be blindfolded when investigating serious crimes. Despite historical pushback from the Federal Constitutional Court, the Merz government maintains that this “focused” approach on IP addresses—rather than full communication logs—meets the highest constitutional standards of the 2026 legal landscape.
