Linke on digital affairs

The Left supports an ECB-issued digital euro as a supplement to cash and as a public alternative to the payment services of big tech companies. For small amounts, there would be a legal right to pay anonymously. According to the platform, money and currency should remain in public hands.

The Left supports a digital euro. This is central bank money in digital form. Cash should stay. People should be able to pay small amounts anonymously. Anonymous means nobody sees who paid.

The digital euro would be legal tender guaranteed by the ECB. Individuals could hold limited, non-interest-bearing amounts in accounts at the ECB. Companies such as Amazon or PayPal would be subject to the same rules as banks and insurers. The platform justifies the right to anonymous payment by noting that digital payments allow profiling and reveal sensitive personal data.

The Left wants to raise the legal entitlement to internet access to 100 Mbit/s and cap prices. Fiber rollout would be municipal and non-profit, with a single network for all providers. This is meant to include people in rural areas and those with little money.

Everyone should have a right to fast internet. Prices should have an upper limit. There should be only one network that all companies use. Public offices should help with online forms.

In the party's view, a shared mobile and fiber network saves construction costs, materials and environmental impact; duplicate rollout would be avoided. Benefits such as basic income support would cover spending on network access and devices. Public offices would provide devices and trained staff to help with online applications. The party rejects any obligation to use digital services.

The Left wants software, data and research paid for with tax money to be open to everyone. Public administrations would use almost only open-source software. The party says this would reduce dependence on big tech companies and their license fees.

What the state pays for should belong to everyone. Public offices should use open software. Anyone can look at open software and reuse it. Data from public offices should be free for all.

Programs developed once could be adopted by other agencies and municipalities without major extra cost. A right to open data and a transparency act would ensure that data from administration and public services is available anonymized and free of charge. This would also apply to private companies that deliver public services. Results of publicly funded research would be freely accessible.

The Left rejects Staatstrojaner, meaning government spyware on private devices, and the scanning of chats. Security vulnerabilities should always be closed and not kept open for surveillance. The party argues that such gaps also help criminals.

The state should not use spy software on phones and computers. It should not read private chats. Security gaps in software should always be closed. Otherwise criminals can use them too.

IT security research would no longer be a criminal offense. The Federal Office for Information Security would become more independent and also assist municipalities and small businesses. The electronic ID and health card would stay tied to a physical chip card, and no data would be stored when people identify themselves online. The Federal Network Agency would get more staff to enforce consumer protection and EU digital rules.

The Left wants to break the power of big tech companies, by breaking them up if necessary. Personalized online advertising would be banned. As an alternative, the party wants to support public and cooperative platforms.

Very large internet companies should be split up. Ads tailored to individual people should be banned. The state should support public and shared platforms. Gains from new technology should be shared fairly.

Antitrust law and its enforcement would be strengthened. The platform rejects the idea that data can be sold like property. The EU rules on artificial intelligence and digital services would be implemented quickly and developed further. Legal requirements would cut the energy and resource use of digital technology, for example through longer warranty and update obligations and stricter rules for data centers. Wealth from automation, AI and robotics would be distributed fairly.