Sunday 15 March 2009

German privacy legislation?

The privacy aspects of that horrific murder series in Winnenden, Germany, where 16 people died, are very interesting.

The perpetrator is known to Germans as Tim K, which is the way all accused are referred to in the German media. I as a foreigner have somewhere (The Guardian?) picked up the boy's surname, though I won't mention it here.

Meanwhile the State Justice Minister in Baden-Wuerttemberg told the world at a press conference that the young man had had some psychotherapy involvement, according to his military call-up papers found in his room. Oh no, he didn't, say the parents. Oh yes, he did, says the director of the local psychiatric hospital - he was here five times, and then refused further treatment. Not sure about the role of the state minister, but I would have thought the hospital director's statement would be against all privacy legislation; it's not as if young Tim could have given his consent to this. Interesting.

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