The rough German equivalent of the National Security Agency has secret arrangements with local telecom firms, providing direct access to data flowing over domestic fiber. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel (Google Translate), the Federal Intelligence Service (known by its German acronym, BND) has taps on the major Internet exchange point in Frankfurt known as DE-CIX.

On Sunday, the magazine cited a “three-page confidential letter” that was signed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office and the Ministry of the Interior. The letter noted that the BND would also have access to data sent over 25 major German ISPs, including 1&1, Freenet, Strato, GSC, and Lambdanet Plus. The letter was sent to ECO, the German Internet business trade group, and the magazine did not specify how it obtained this letter.

Neither DE-CIX nor ECO immediately responded to Ars’ request for comment.

However, 1&1 wrote on its blog (Google Translate) that it had "learned of the allegations for the first time from the press," and that this spying arrangement "is not known to us." 1&1 also noted that it had not received any notification from DE-CIX that this surveillance was taking place.

1&1 referenced a blog post by Thomas Stadler, a German tech lawyer, who wrote (Google Translate) on Monday that the BND is acting in a "legal vacuum."

This revelation seems to be the rough German equivalent of the NSA's own XKeyscore surveillance system. The BND, which is prevented by German law from conducting domestic spying, ostensibly has its attention turned toward Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. However, Der Spiegel does note that the BND is allowed to spy on Germans "in some cases."

The German tech news site Heise (Google Translate) reports that it still unknown exactly how the BND avoids capturing domestic traffic sent over German networks.

In September (Google Translate), Green Party members of German parliament asked the government about this point—and the government did not respond, citing reasons of national security. However, when asked how much data was being collected, the German government answered that a “statistical analysis did not and will not take place.”