The Point: Doctors demand safeguards for doctor-patient confidentiality in planned cyber defense powers for the Federal Police and Federal Criminal Police Office.
The German Medical Association criticizes planned cyber defense competencies for the Federal Criminal Police Office and Federal Police. It fears that these new powers could endanger doctor-patient confidentiality.
According to current legislative drafts on cybersecurity measures, the Federal Criminal Police Office and Federal Police are to receive expanded powers to ward off attack infrastructures and intervene preventively in networks. This is part of the technological response to rising cyber threats in the public and critical infrastructure sector.
From the perspective of the German Medical Association, these powers carry risks to doctor-patient confidentiality — one of the fundamental principles of trust in healthcare. Medical confidentiality in Germany is protected by the criminal code and professional regulations and serves to protect trust between physician and patient. When authorities receive expanded access powers to networks, there is concern that sensitive patient data could be disclosed or intercepted as a side effect — particularly in cyber defense measures that occur without concrete individual case review.
The criticism from medical associations is not fundamentally opposed to cybersecurity measures, but rather calls for clarity on limits and protective procedures: What data may be affected during preventive measures? Who monitors compliance with professional secrets? How are compensation payments regulated in cases of unintended disclosure? These questions must be addressed in the legislative process to achieve the new security level without compromising existing data protection standards in healthcare.
Source: www.heise.de · Published 25 June 2026
Lumi AI News — AI-assisted curation in accordance with Art. 50 EU AI Act. Paraphrase and classification through Lumi News Pipeline v1.7.1.