# German spies granted sweeping new powers

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/german-spies-granted-sweeping-new-powers/
- Published: 2026-11-14T04:41:11+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-14T10:50:57+00:00
- Original publisher: Al Jazeera (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/german-spies-granted-sweeping-new-powers?traffic_source=rss
- Topics: Europe, Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- Germany’s intelligence agencies will gain powers to disrupt some threats.
- The Bundestag approved the bill by 308 votes to 190.
- Critics raise concerns about privacy and surveillance.

## Summary

Germany’s Bundestag has approved expanded powers for its intelligence agencies, allowing them to take action against certain serious threats as well as gather and analyse information. The government says the changes will help counter espionage, cyberattacks and terrorism, and address situations where agencies identify a threat but lack authority to intervene.

The bill passed on Friday by 308 votes to 190, with 71 abstentions; the governing Christian Democrats and Social Democrats supported it, while the AfD and Die Linke opposed it. The domestic agency could, for example, remove stolen information from an attacker’s server, while the foreign intelligence service could disrupt servers used by state-backed hackers abroad. Die Linke and other critics warn the measures risk breaching privacy protections and weakening the traditional separation between intelligence work and policing.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.