Spy-Wary Germany Actually Considering Typewriters

The wave of the future for some German government communications could be a decidedly retro one. It's no secret that the country is unhappy with NSA and other spying on the country, and in a TV interview Monday, the politician heading up parliament's probe into NSA doings in the country revealed that his NSA committee is seriously considering using typewriters. "And not electronic models either." The interviewer seemed not to expect that revelation, notes the Guardian, asking, "Really?" Replied Patrick Sensburg, "Yes, no joke."

Some of Germany's politicians do see it as a joke, however. Says the SPD's representative on the committee, "This call for mechanical typewriters is making our work sound ridiculous. The idea that we can protect people from surveillance by dragging them back to the typewriter is absurd." USA Today notes that Russia has reportedly been using more typewriters in the wake of the Snowden leaks, specifically, an electric German model called the Triumph-Adler Twen 180. Indeed, Kremlin security officials planned to spend more than $15,000 on the machines last year. (More Germany stories.)