German court rules: website operators must not store visitors' IP addresses

A court in Berlin, Germany, has ruled that the practice of federal judicial institutions obtaining the IP addresses of third-party website visitors is illegal. According to German law, it is not permitted to record personal data of citizens unless it is for billing purposes. The court deemed that information such as IP addresses and visit records could lead to privacy violations. However, many large e-commerce platforms and search engines, like eBay and Google, continue to retain user records while also striving to ensure data security. Meanwhile, lawyers and legal professionals are actively working to abolish the "illegal data retention policies."

The local court has granted the defendant permission to appeal, and the final ruling will not be made until next year. Only then will we know whether the retention of IP addresses and user behaviors is considered legal.