Patrick Sensburg, the head of Germany’s parliamentary committee investigating the NSA spying allegations, revealed in an interview with ARD that he and his committee are looking at using traditional typewriters to carry out their written work around the ongoing investigation, with the hope that it will block any spying that may be going on.
Since the committee is investigating a spying situation that appears to still be occurring, eliminating digital records for sensitive documents seems to be the most secure option. “In fact, we already have [a typewriter], and it’s even a non-electronic typewriter,” Sensburg said in his TV interview on Monday. “And of course we have to keep our internal communication secure, send encrypted emails, use encrypted telephones and other things, which I’m not going to say here of course.”
Germany appears to be following in Russia’s footsteps with considering the use of typewriters. Last year Russia’s Kremlin spent roughly $15,000 to purchase 20 electric typewriters to cut back on leaks.
The paranoia, although warranted, doesn’t just stop there though. After discovering that two more German parliamentarians had their phones hacked, Sensburg announced that he was having his own phone go through a security audit and want’s others on his committee to do the same. “I’m going to ask the other chairmen and committee members to have their phones checked at once,” Sensburg said.
Sources: Ars Technica, The Local
Photo: mpclemens [Flickr]
