Reuters: "A spate of chilling snooping scandals involving some of their country's biggest corporations has unsettled Germans who have not forgotten the dark days of the Cold War. Revelations by Deutsche Telekom, Europe's biggest telecommunications firm, that it illegally monitored phone records in 2005 have reawakened memories of communist East Germany's Stasi secret police and even Hitler's Gestapo. [...] The Telekom scandal, based on a report that the firm had spied on journalists and directors to find out who was leaking information to the press, is the dominant case but others have also made headlines. Discount retailer Lidl was investigated after accusations it was monitoring staff activity -- from toilet breaks to suspected love affairs. Rail operator Deutsche Bahn this week denied illegal snooping despite using the same firm as Telekom. These incidents may be seen as ordinary business practice in some countries. But not in Germany. ..."

Posted by Laura at June 6, 2008 09:41 AM