German Customs Made Its Secret WhatsApp Cloning Program Permanent
A February 20 directive folds the tool into a new unit, DVIII.C.212, and tells staff: knowledge only when necessary.
- Customs began cloning WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal accounts in a pilot starting late 2023.
- The pilot became permanent operational practice on August 1, 2025, no malware required.
- Netzpolitik.org published the classified VS-NfD directive September 2, alongside jurist Christian Rückert's legal analysis.
Why it matters: An agency that limits knowledge of its own methods to itself has stopped answering to anyone else.
Zollkriminalamt internal directive (VS-NfD), published by netzpolitik.org ↗ · Sep 14, 20269/14/26