Linke on digital affairs

The Left wants to improve data protection and data security for the electronic patient record. The record is to be used only to improve treatment. In addition, open-source applications are to receive public funding and digital health apps are to be scientifically evaluated.

There is a digital record for patients. The Left says the data in it is not safe enough. It wants to protect the data better. The record should only be used for treatment. Experts should check health apps.

In the platform's view, the patient record has dangerous security gaps. The Left rejects using the data for purposes other than treatment. Open-source software, meaning programs whose source code is publicly visible, is to be publicly funded. It also wants to examine how diagnoses relevant in emergencies can be added to digital emergency data sets in line with data protection rules.

The Left wants to make it easier for older people to keep up with the digital world. Socially disadvantaged seniors would get free devices and internet access, along with training and personal support. The platform argues that many older people feel shut out by rapid technological change.

Many older people find computers and the internet hard to use. The Left wants to help them. Poor older people should get devices and internet for free. There should be more classes. Young people and volunteers should help them learn.

The platform calls for funding programs that give low-income seniors devices and internet services at no cost. Training in the use of modern technology would be expanded. In so-called digital neighborhoods, young people or volunteers would support older residents. In addition, easy-to-use tablets or computers would be provided, with guidance on how to use them.

The Left sets out a vision for the municipality of the future: digital administration, maintained infrastructure, climate protection and close cooperation between municipalities. Jointly developed digital solutions and open-source software are to become the norm.

The Left wants to make towns and cities more modern. Public offices should offer more online. Roads, schools and bike paths should be repaired. Towns should work together and share software. Local climate protection should grow too.

Administration and services are to become digital and close to citizens. Paths, roads, bridges, schools and sports and cultural facilities are to be modernized and adapted to climate change, along with climate-friendly mobility and expanded public transit. The program also names local access to education, culture and social services, support for renewable energy and for regional and public-interest businesses. Municipalities are to share resources, which the party expects to lower costs and build expertise.

The Left wants to better protect state and municipal IT against attacks and deploy more staff for this. It points to the 2021 cyberattack on the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld and rejects software such as Palantir on data protection grounds.

The Left wants to protect public offices better against online attacks. The state should have twice as many IT security experts. Every office should have an emergency plan. The party does not want surveillance software like Palantir.

Municipalities would get a contact point for security incidents, with the state paying for first response and providing experts. Emergency plans for cyberattacks are to become mandatory in all administrations. Municipal IT security officers are to receive financial support. Staff and managers in public administration would have to take training on information security, IT hygiene and the GDPR. The benchmark for securing systems is the requirements of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

The Left wants to examine and simplify administrative procedures and rules before they are digitized. In the program's view, poor paper-based processes must not simply be carried over into digital ones.

The Left wants to check how public offices work first. Unneeded tasks should be dropped. Technology comes only after that. Artificial intelligence should help with simple tasks. Staff then have more time to advise people.

A systematic process analysis in all departments of the state administration is meant to uncover duplicate and contradictory procedures. Laws and regulations are to be reviewed for the same flaws. New rules would be subject to a binding digital check modeled on the one used by the federal government. Vetted and transparent AI is to take over simple, repetitive tasks, such as checking whether applications are complete.

The Left wants the consequences to be assessed before any use of AI in publicly funded state institutions. The effects on those concerned, liability for wrong decisions and the risk of discrimination are to be clarified in advance.

The Left sees risks in artificial intelligence, or AI. Public offices should only use AI after a check. A public list should show all AI systems in use. People should be able to complain to an office.

The assessment is to be modeled on the data protection impact assessment, and all systems in use would be rechecked every six months. A public AI register is to record each system's purpose, data basis and assessment result. An independent office for review and complaints is to be set up at the state level. The program notes that the EU AI Act sets the framework while implementation lies with the states.

The Left wants public administration to use only open-source AI models whose workings can be verified. Decisions in which AI plays a part are to be labeled and explained in plain language.

Government offices use artificial intelligence, or AI, more and more. The Left wants only AI that people can check. The office should say when AI helped decide. It should also explain the decision clearly.

The platform rejects closed systems whose workings cannot be inspected. Where agencies use AI, they are to hire European providers or the state is to host the systems itself. There are to be disclosure requirements for the energy use of AI systems. Environmental criteria are also to apply in public procurement.

The Left wants to give all public-sector employees an entitlement to digital training. IT specialists are to get their own career tracks with better pay, because in the platform's view the public sector cannot compete on salaries.

People who work for the state should get at least seven days a year for digital courses. Computer experts should earn more money in state jobs. This way the Left wants to attract more young experts. There should also be scholarships. A scholarship is money for studying.

The plan includes a training budget, bonuses for key digital positions and higher pay grades for IT tracks through a change in civil service career law. At least 100 scholarships a year are to go to IT students who commit to public service in return. Dual study programs are also meant to bring in young talent. A mentoring program is to pair tech-savvy staff with less confident colleagues. A nationwide knowledge platform is to offer certified online training.

The Left wants to end the state administration's dependence on US tech corporations and switch to open-source and European solutions. The platform sees this dependence as a political and security risk because US authorities could access data under the Cloud Act.

Government offices often use programs from US companies today. The Left sees this as a danger to citizens' data. It wants to use programs from Europe and open programs. Open means anyone can see how the program is built. The state should build its own data storage.

Open source is to take priority in state procurement; other software must offer open interfaces and full data export. Buying new software that falls under the Cloud Act or similar laws is to be banned. Plans include a sovereignty strategy, an inventory of all US software in use and state-run platforms with cloud infrastructure in European data centers. Email systems are to move to European providers, and Microsoft Office is to be replaced by open-source alternatives. The state is to work with the Zentrum für Digitale Souveränität (Center for Digital Sovereignty).

The Left wants the federal government, states and municipalities to develop and coordinate their digital administrative systems together. The platform criticizes that each level currently uses its own software, which it calls costly and a barrier to data exchange.

Every state and every city uses different computer programs today. The programs often do not work together. The Left wants shared rules and shared programs. Saxony-Anhalt should take over finished programs from other states. This should save money.

The state is to use and develop open-source platforms together with other states instead of building stand-alone solutions. Existing software from other states is to be reused. Tenders are to favor providers that guarantee open interfaces. Systems are to be compatible with the Deutschland-Stack, the nationwide cloud infrastructure.

The Left wants to create a legal right to affordable internet access with capped prices and to support people with little money or little tech knowledge. At the same time it rejects mandatory digital-only services: dealings with authorities are to remain possible offline.

The Left wants everyone to be able to afford internet. People on welfare should pay at most 20 euros a month. Poor families should get tablets or laptops. Towns should have places with devices and help. No one should be forced to deal with offices by computer.

The social tariff is to cost welfare recipients no more than 20 euros a month for 100 Mbit/s. Start-up funding of 20 million euros is planned for tablets and laptops for families in need; initiatives that refurbish discarded devices are to receive support. Digital Points with devices, Wi-Fi and advice are to be set up in large and small towns, for example in citizen service offices or village shops. Adult education centers are to offer free digital courses statewide. All public digital services are to become accessible, backed by a dedicated strategy.