What do the parties say on digital affairs?

The AfD wants to recognize a civil right to live without digital administrative and everyday processes and to fully preserve cash as legal tender. Location tracking and device monitoring are to be limited to the bare minimum. It bases this on citizens' rights of defense against the state.

The AfD wants this: Nobody has to do everything digitally. Cash should stay. Devices should track people as little as possible. Users should be able to turn tracking off. The AfD says this protects people's freedom.

The AfD wants to undo the NetzDG (Network Enforcement Act) and refuses to implement the EU's Digital Services Act in Germany. It regards both as tools for controlling and deleting opinions online. It also wants the state to stop paying non-state actors that influence how opinions are formed.

The AfD wants to get rid of two sets of rules for social networks. One is the German NetzDG. The other is an EU law called the Digital Services Act. Both make platforms delete certain content. The AfD sees this as a danger to free speech.

The AfD wants to abolish the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO in German) and replace it with a leaner federal data protection law. In its view, the regulation does little to protect data but burdens small and medium-sized businesses and consumers. Data protection authorities would also gain more weight, including against the state.

The GDPR is the EU's data protection law. The AfD wants to abolish it. A shorter German law would replace it. The AfD says the GDPR is a burden for small companies and consumers. Data protection agencies should also be able to punish government bodies.

The AfD calls for a federal strategy for digital sovereignty. It is meant to secure citizens' self-determination and protect government bodies and critical infrastructure. Chinese corporations would be kept out of building Germany's digital networks.

The AfD wants a plan for digital independence. Germany should rely less on others for technology. The plan should protect citizens, government offices and important facilities. The federal government should develop its own devices and programs for this. Companies from China should not help build the networks.

The AfD wants legal rules that make the use of artificial intelligence possible, for example in medical technology and transportation. It rejects EU regulation, including the AI Act, and calls for national solutions instead. Germany should not cut itself off from this growth market, the party says.

AI means artificial intelligence. The AfD wants to make it possible to use AI in Germany. Examples are medicine and transportation. The AfD rejects the EU's rules for AI. Germany should make its own rules.

The AfD rejects an ECB-issued digital euro and a central register of assets. It sees both as tools for sweeping surveillance and control of financial activity. Instead, it calls for a right to an analog life free from monitoring.

The European Central Bank plans a digital euro. The AfD is against it. It also opposes a register that lists what everyone owns. The AfD fears the state would then watch everything. People should be able to live without digital technology.

The BSW wants a single online portal for all government services where citizens and companies enter their data only once. At the same time, the party rejects digital mandates that add burdens for small businesses and the self-employed.

The BSW wants one website for all government offices. People enter their data there only once. But small firms should not be forced to use digital procedures.

The BSW rejects blanket data retention by the state and wants to ban the collection and storage of individual behavioral data. Encryption should remain freely usable and online tracking should be curbed. The party says this is meant to prevent total surveillance of citizens.

Companies and the state collect a lot of data about people. The BSW wants to ban collecting data on how people behave. The state should not read private messages. Everyone should be allowed to encrypt their data. Encrypting means only the receiver can read a message.

The BSW wants to promote open-source software and freely available AI models and help public agencies switch to them. This is meant to reduce dependence on large US tech companies and save money in the long run.

Open-source software is software whose code anyone may look at. The BSW wants to support this kind of software. Public offices should use it instead of programs from big US companies. This should save money and protect data.

The BSW wants a legal guarantee that people without a smartphone, computer or internet access can take part in public life. In the party's view, they should be neither excluded nor disadvantaged.

Some people have no smartphone and no internet. The BSW wants to protect them. They should still be able to take trains and get appointments. A law should secure this right.

The CDU and the CSU want to give every citizen a secure digital identity with a personal inbox for dealing with government offices. Public administration is to work fully digitally and use artificial intelligence.

The CDU and the CSU want to make government offices digital. Every person should get a digital account for these offices. ID cards and driver's licenses should be on the phone. Computer programs should handle simple requests faster.

The CDU and the CSU want to implement the EU's AI regulation with little red tape and not go beyond what it requires. AI research and applications are to be promoted because the parties see them as a precondition for competitiveness.

The CDU and the CSU want to support artificial intelligence. The short word for it is AI. The EU rules for AI should not be made even stricter. Small companies should get help with using AI. Europe should have its own large computers and data storage.

The CDU and the CSU want to expand fast internet and mobile networks everywhere, especially in rural areas. An acceleration law is meant to speed up permits.

The CDU and the CSU want fast internet everywhere. This matters most for villages and small towns. The cell phone network should also get better. A new law should make permits faster.

The CDU and the CSU want to create a separate federal ministry for digital affairs. It is meant to bring the responsibilities for digital issues, now spread out, together in one place.

The CDU and the CSU want a new ministry for digital matters. This ministry should take care of all digital issues. These include networks, data, and digital government offices. It should also buy the computer technology for the federal government.

The CDU and the CSU want to make data protection more pragmatic and make it easier to use data. In their view, too many rules and legal uncertainty keep companies and researchers from making enough use of data.

The CDU and the CSU want simpler rules for data protection. Companies and researchers should be able to use data more easily. Every person should decide about their own data. There should be fewer duplicate agencies for data protection.

The CDU and the CSU want to make the Federal Office for Information Security the central agency for cybersecurity and build up an active federal cyber defense. The parties point to the growing number and severity of cyberattacks.

Attacks over the internet are increasing. The CDU and the CSU want to protect Germany better against them. One federal office should become the central agency for online security. The federal government should be able to stop attacks from abroad. Children and teens should be better protected online.

The FDP wants to protect Germany better against espionage, sabotage, disinformation and cyberattacks, which it attributes mainly to Russia and China. Manufacturers would have to build in security from the start and be liable for damage from vulnerabilities. The state would refrain from using state trojans.

The FDP wants more protection against attacks from the internet. Makers should build their products to be safe from the start. They should pay for damage caused by security gaps. The state should not use spy software on devices.

The FDP wants a dedicated digital ministry to steer the digitalization of public administration uniformly nationwide. It would be formed from existing departments of other ministries. For network expansion, the party relies mainly on private companies.

The FDP wants a new ministry for digital matters. It should steer digital government across the country. Departments from other ministries would move there. Mostly companies should build fast internet.

The FDP wants citizens and businesses to be able to handle all government services online and to provide information only once. Analog processes would be replaced by digital ones rather than running both in parallel.

The FDP wants government offices to go digital. Everyone should have a right to online services. People should give their data only once. Paper processes should end. Helpers in offices support people who find this hard.

The Free Voters want to create a separate digital ministry that takes the lead on the administration's digital projects. Public administration is to be fundamentally reformed, with digitalization and AI used across the board.

The Free Voters want a separate ministry for digital matters. It should make government offices digital. Citizens should be able to file applications online. Offices should also use artificial intelligence. Estonia is the model for this.

The Free Voters want to push ahead with broadband and mobile network coverage nationwide, especially in rural areas. At least as much money should go into digital villages as into digital cities.

The Free Voters want fast internet everywhere. This matters most for villages and small towns. Villages should get as much money for digital projects as cities. This should also help older people.

The Free Voters want sensitive data, such as data on water and energy supply, to be held only on systems inside the EU. Software from non-European companies should be reviewed in these areas, and open source should be preferred.

Important data should stay in Europe. This includes data about water and power. The Free Voters prefer open software there. With open software, anyone can see the program code. The data should be well protected.

The Free Voters demand legal rules for social media guided by youth protection and protection against objectively false information. Extremist communication and crimes on the internet are to be prosecuted more intensively. An overall strategy against cybercrime with more specialists and equipment is to be developed.

The Free Voters want new rules for social media. The rules should protect young people. They should also protect against false information. The state should go after online crimes more strongly. Agencies should get more experts and better technology.

The Free Voters want to support digital tools in health care when they improve care. The electronic patient record is to be voluntary, and no one should be disadvantaged because of their data or a refusal to share it. Health data is to receive special protection.

The Free Voters want to use digital tools in health care. The electronic patient record should be voluntary. People who do not share their data should not be worse off. Health data should get extra protection.

The Greens want to advance the digitalization of business and science and bring artificial intelligence into wider practical use. AI development, cybersecurity and digital skills would be supported, and using data would become easier. The state would act as a customer buying innovative digital products.

The Greens want more digital tools in companies and universities. Artificial intelligence should be used more often. A simple test would show which rules apply to an AI program. The state itself should buy new digital products.

The Greens want to create a Germany app through which all government services gradually become available. Public offices are to work more digitally, ask for data only once, and keep offline access open where it is needed.

The Greens want to introduce a Germany app. People should be able to handle things with public offices in the app. For example, they could apply for an ID card. People should only have to enter their data once. Those who do not use the internet can still go to the office.

The Greens want to bring responsibilities for digitalization together in a digital ministry. In the platform's view, digitalization has so far also faltered because responsibilities are scattered. Open standards are also meant to make IT systems work together.

The Greens want a ministry for digital matters. Everything about digitalization should come together there. The ministry should also manage the money for IT. Computer systems of companies and public offices should fit together better.

The Greens want to make data protection simpler and less bureaucratic to implement without lowering the level of protection. Data protection oversight is to become more uniform. The state is to make its own data available proactively.

The Greens want to make data protection rules simpler. The protection of data should stay just as good. The oversight agencies should work in a more uniform way. The state should show its own data openly.

The Greens want fast internet in cities and rural areas alike. To that end, permits are to be issued faster, rural regions are to get more funding, and customers' rights to fast internet are to be strengthened.

The Greens want fast internet everywhere. Building fiber and 5G networks should go faster. The state should give more money for this in rural areas. Customers should find it easier to show that their internet is too slow.

The Greens want to better protect children and teenagers from the mental and social effects of excessive social media use. To do so, platform algorithms are to be regulated more strictly and safe default settings required.

Social media can harm children. The Greens want stricter rules for the platforms. The party does not want to allow programs designed to make children addicted. Devices and services should have safe settings from the start.

The Greens want to replace paper records in health care with digital tools and expand the electronic patient record. This is meant to cut red tape and increase the benefit for patients. Protection of health data is to remain strong.

Health care still uses a lot of paper. The Greens want to change that. Vaccination and maternity records should be digital. Patient data should be well protected. People, not computers, will still decide on treatment.

The Greens want a digital violence protection law so that illegal content such as insults or incitement to hatred is deleted and the accounts behind it are blocked faster. The platform sees democracy at risk when hate and disinformation spread systematically online.

There is hate and there are lies on the internet. The Greens want a new law against this. Illegal posts should be deleted. The accounts behind them should be blocked faster. Police and prosecutors should pursue crimes on the internet.

The Greens want to curb targeted disinformation campaigns that, in their view, aim to influence elections and divide society. Systematically spreading disinformation on behalf of a foreign state is to become a crime. Large platforms are to be required to take effective countermeasures.

Some states spread false news on purpose. The Greens want to fight this. People who do this for a foreign state should be punished. Big online platforms should do more against it.

The Greens want to better protect IT infrastructure against attacks with a cybersecurity strengthening act. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) is to become more independent and serve as the central authority. The platform cites yearly damage of more than 200 billion euros to the economy.

Hackers attack the computers of companies and agencies. The Greens want to protect the technology better. A new law should do this. The federal IT security office should get more tasks.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

The ÖDP wants to reduce exposure to wireless radiation through lower limits, wireless-free areas and a halt to the 5G and 6G rollout until independent studies rule out risks. Digital infrastructure should instead be expanded via wired technology such as fiber optics. In the platform's view, legal protections do not fully cover the health and environmental effects of wireless signals.

The ÖDP wants less wireless radiation. The 5G rollout should stop for now. First, researchers should check whether it is harmful. Daycare centers, schools and hospitals should have no wireless networks. Internet should come through fiber cables.

The ÖDP calls for a right to take part in everyday life without digital tools, for example at government offices, on public transit and when paying with cash. It also wants comprehensive data protection, safeguards for fundamental rights and public oversight of advanced AI.

The ÖDP says nobody should have to do everything digitally. People should still be able to visit offices without a phone. People should still be able to pay with cash. Personal data should be well protected. The state should oversee artificial intelligence.

The PdF wants to curb false news through mandatory labels for AI content, detection software, public education and obligations for platforms. It sees disinformation as a threat to democratic opinion-forming but wants to protect free speech in the process.

The PdF wants to act against fake news online. Images and videos made by AI should carry a label. Platforms should do more against fake news and spend money on it. People should learn how to spot fake news. Free speech should stay protected.

The PdF wants to digitize all administrative procedures and make them available through one central online portal. This is meant to cut costs and processing times, while visiting an office in person should remain possible.

The PdF wants people to do all government paperwork online. There should be one central website for this. That should save time and money. Anyone who wants can still go to the office in person.

The PdF wants to accelerate the rollout of fiber and mobile networks through more competition, better regulation, and public subsidies. It notes that Germany, with 43.2 percent fiber coverage, lags behind other countries.

The PdF wants faster internet all over Germany. Fiber lines should be built more quickly. Companies should not build twice in the same place. The state should help companies pay for it.

The PdF supports a KRITIS-Dachgesetz (umbrella law on critical infrastructure) with uniform nationwide minimum standards for protecting sectors such as energy, transport, and health. Operators would have to report security incidents immediately.

The PdF wants to protect important facilities better. Examples are power grids, transport, and hospitals. A new law should set the same rules everywhere. Operators must report attacks and failures right away.

The PdF wants to create a national cybersecurity center to improve coordination among government bodies, businesses, and international partners. It also calls for funding research into security technology and for enough money to respond quickly to new threats.

The PdF wants to build a center for safety on the internet. The state, companies, and other countries work together there. The party also wants more research on safe technology. There should be enough money for this.

The PdF wants to build a strong AI industry in Germany and implement the EU's AI Act in a way that does not hold back innovation. It proposes AI centers for small and mid-sized firms, state-funded data pools, and support for start-ups, while keeping data protection standards high.

The PdF wants more companies in Germany to work on artificial intelligence, or AI. The EU rules for AI should not weigh too heavily on companies. There should be centers that help small companies use AI. Young companies should get money and help.

The PdF wants research into using blockchain technology in public administration and democracy and wants to support companies developing such solutions. Decentralized payment systems such as cryptocurrencies are to be promoted, provided they are clearly regulated. In the party's view, the potential of this technology has so far gone largely unused.

Blockchain is a technology that stores data safely on many computers. The PdF wants to study how public offices can use it. It wants to help companies that work with it. Digital money like Bitcoin should be promoted. But there should be clear rules for it.

The PdF wants to create a new European body for digital resilience and sovereignty and to buy components for critical infrastructure primarily from European companies. Only components certified under strict European standards would be allowed in critical networks. The party points to risks from opaque supply chains and single points of failure.

Important networks for power, transport, and phones depend on computer technology. The PdF wants to protect this technology better. A new European office should make rules for it. Parts should mainly come from European companies. All parts need a strict check.

The PdF wants to repeal the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG, Germany's Network Enforcement Act) because, in its view, the law restricts free speech disproportionately and achieves little. It also calls for clearer standards, transparent procedures, and stronger protection of fundamental rights under the EU's Digital Services Act.

The NetzDG is a law against illegal content on social networks. The PdF wants to get rid of this law. It says the law limits free speech too much. An EU law for platforms should also become clearer. Basic rights should be better protected.

The PdF wants to write net neutrality into law and prevent any weakening of it. The party sees it as a precondition for free speech, fair competition, and innovation.

Net neutrality means all data on the internet travels at the same speed. The PdF wants to put this into a law. Rich companies should not be able to buy a faster line. Network operators should not charge big providers extra fees.

The PdF wants software paid for with tax money to be released as open source and publicly funded content to be freely accessible. In the party's view, this promotes transparency, digital sovereignty, education, and innovation.

The state pays for software, research, and data with tax money. The PdF wants everyone to be able to use these things freely. The code of state software should be open. Digital works from museums and libraries should be free of charge.

The PdF wants to enshrine in law a right to make private copies of digitally purchased content. In addition, a right to interoperability is meant to ensure that digital services and devices work together, reducing dependence on large providers.

The PdF wants new rights for users. People who buy digital content may copy it for themselves. Devices and services should work together. People should be able to move their data easily to another provider.

The PdF wants to speed up fiber rollout in rural and economically weak areas with a state-funded program. It also wants a central online portal that lets citizens and businesses handle government paperwork digitally.

The PdF wants to support fast internet in rural areas. The state should pay part of it. People should be able to file forms with offices online. One big online portal should make this possible.

The SPD wants to revise the federal AI strategy with a focus on systemic innovation. Plans include AI ecosystems for individual industries, generative language models for specific fields, and investment in computing capacity at universities.

AI means artificial intelligence. The SPD wants to renew the government's plan for AI. There should be AI projects for single industries. Universities should get better computers and more know-how. Projects for the common good should get money too.

The SPD wants to speed up the digitization of public administration and put responsibility for it in a single ministry. Agencies would exchange data digitally with each other so that citizens only have to provide it once.

The SPD wants government offices to work digitally. One ministry should be in charge of this. People should give their data only once. The offices then share the data themselves. People should be able to prove their identity online.

The SPD wants a dedicated law against digital violence. It is meant to close gaps in criminal law on image-based abuse, restrict spy apps and make it easier to block offenders' accounts.

The SPD wants a new law against violence on the internet. People who shame others with images should face punishment. Spy apps should be restricted. These are programs used to watch others in secret. Offenders' accounts should be easier to block.

The Tierschutzpartei wants to hold large platforms accountable when they moderate content inadequately and demands consistent fact-checking in broadcasting and the press. Online hate crime, threats and cyberbullying are to be prosecuted more strictly.

The Tierschutzpartei wants to act against false news online. Large platforms should check content better. If not, they should be held liable. The state should pursue online hate and threats more strictly. All young people should have access to devices and the internet.

The Tierschutzpartei wants to equip low-income households with laptops or tablets free of charge. In its view, digital participation is a prerequisite for education, work and social life. Older people are to get help using digital technology.

Poor households should get a laptop or tablet for free. That is what the Tierschutzpartei wants. Then everyone can learn and work online. Older people should get free courses on digital technology.

The Tierschutzpartei wants websites, apps and online services to be usable by people with impairments. It calls for a stronger legal obligation to ensure digital inclusion.

The Tierschutzpartei wants digital services without barriers. People with impairments should be able to use websites and apps too. The party wants stricter rules for this.

The Tierschutzpartei wants to extend the mobile network and community Wi-Fi (Freifunk) across Germany and roll out fiber everywhere. Public facilities should offer free Wi-Fi.

The Tierschutzpartei wants better cell phone coverage all over Germany. Fast fiber internet should reach every place. Public buildings should offer free Wi-Fi.

The Tierschutzpartei calls for a dedicated digital ministry to coordinate digitalization across several policy areas. It also wants fewer bureaucratic hurdles and government services available both online and in person.

The Tierschutzpartei wants a ministry just for digital matters. It should steer digitalization. Dealing with offices should get easier. People should be able to do things online or in person.

Volt wants to consolidate oversight of the digital sphere, which the platform says is spread across more than 80 agencies, into three areas. This is meant to clarify responsibilities and give businesses fixed points of contact. The agencies in charge are to become more independent.

Today a great many agencies are in charge of the internet. Volt wants to change that. There should be only three areas: security online, market oversight, and data protection. The agencies should work independently. Companies then know whom to contact.

Volt rejects the blanket use of surveillance technology and its automated analysis. Systems that biometrically identify people remotely in real time are to be banned. The platform justifies this with the protection of privacy and informational self-determination.

Volt does not want surveillance everywhere. Cameras should not be allowed to recognize people by their faces automatically. This should also apply at borders and in prisons. There should be clear limits on how the police use artificial intelligence. This is how Volt wants to protect privacy.

Volt wants security flaws in IT systems to be reported openly and fixed quickly. The so-called hacker paragraph is to be dropped so that security researchers need not fear prosecution. Volt rejects state backdoors in software.

Volt wants to close security gaps in computer systems quickly. There should be one central list for them. Researchers should be allowed to look for gaps without being punished. That is why the hacker paragraph should go. The state should not build secret entrances into programs.

Volt wants to give people more control over their data and protect them from manipulative practices online. At the same time, regulation should not hold back companies' capacity to innovate. In the platform's view, data protection should become a competitive advantage.

Some websites trick people. These tricks are called dark patterns. Volt wants clear laws for them. All of Europe should also have shared rules to protect consumers. Companies should get simple help to follow data protection rules.

Volt wants to set up a new digital ministry that defines the IT strategy for all of Germany. It would steer the digitalization of public administration and cut duplicate structures. The platform expects this to produce more efficient and user-friendly public services.

Volt wants a separate ministry for digital matters. It should plan the computer technology of all agencies. The same rules and standards should apply everywhere. Agencies should have to share finished digital solutions with each other. This should make public administration faster and simpler.

Volt wants public authorities to offer their services digitally, on mobile devices, and as far as possible proactively. People should have to submit their data only once. The platform points to Estonia as a model.

Volt wants government offices to go digital. People should be able to do many things on their phone. Offices should give some services on their own. People should give their data only once. Everyone should be able to use the services.

Volt wants to promote the development and use of artificial intelligence in business and research. The platform expects this to bring more competitiveness, new jobs, and technological sovereignty.

Volt wants to support artificial intelligence. The short word for it is AI. Companies should be able to test AI safely. There should be more money and more large data centers. People should be able to train for new jobs with AI.

Volt wants to limit AI risks such as discrimination, data misuse, and disinformation through a uniform legal framework. Private individuals should decide for themselves whether their data is used for AI.

Volt wants clear rules for artificial intelligence. Each person should decide whether AI uses their data. The EU's laws should be applied strictly. They should protect people from unfair treatment and false information.

Volt wants to speed up the rollout of fiber and 5G across the country and set binding minimum speeds for internet connections by 2030. The platform calls access to fast, affordable internet a basic right and wants to support rural regions in particular.

Volt wants fast internet for everyone in Germany. More fiber cables should be built for this. By 2030, every connection should have a minimum speed. Villages and small towns should get money from the government for this.

Volt wants to make Germany and Europe more independent in digital technologies, for example by supporting semiconductor production, European cloud infrastructure and open source in public administration. Cities would be planned more sustainably using sensor data and open systems.

Volt wants Europe to depend less on others for digital technology. The government should support companies that make computer chips. There should be European cloud services. Public offices should use open-source software. That is software whose code anyone can look at.

Volt wants to write the promotion of digital skills into law and embed it in schools, vocational training and further training through a nationwide framework. Libraries and community centers would become learning centers with digital and analog offerings. In the platform's view, no one should be disadvantaged for lacking digital knowledge.

Volt wants everyone to be able to use digital technology. A law should make this a task of education. There should be one shared plan for all of Germany. Libraries and community centers should become places to learn. They offer courses and help.