Germany is considering ditching PCs and returning to the typewriter for sensitive documents in the wake of the NSA spying scandal, the head of the government's inquiry into the situation has admitted.
The comments were swiftly followed by polarised reaction on the web and from other politicians in Germany.
In what could be considered one of the more surprising cyber security admissions of recent times, Patrick Sensburg said on German television that the old-fashioned technology was being considered by himself and his colleagues because "intelligence activities are still going on".
The comments come during a time of heightened tension in German political circles after it was claimed last November that the NSA, a US intelligence agency, had been monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone. German politicians are currently only permitted to use encrypted email, and encrypted mobile phones for sensitive calls.
Asked by the presenter of the Morgenmagazin program whether the typewriter was being considered instead of using PCs, Sensburg, a Christian Democrat politician heading the inquiry into NSA activity in Germany, said (according to a Guardian newspaper translation): "As a matter of fact, we have, and not electronic models either". He insisted this was "no joke".
It is understood that last year Russian politicians took similar measures in a bid to prevent spying on sensitive communications, in the wake of whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations into NSA activities.
Following Sensburg’s comments, other politicians swiftly attacked the ideas suggested. Christian Flisek, an SPD politician on the committee, said to the Spiegel news magazine that the concept of using typewriters was "ridiculous" and "absurd".
"We live in the 21st-century, when many people communicate predominantly by digital means. Effective counter espionage works digitally too."
On Twitter, Dongjin Lee described the idea of needing old fashioned machines to prevent newer threats, as the "paradox of technology". Jason James wrote: "Well, you can't hack a typewriter."
Others took a different perspective, stating that it would be enough to simply use computers disconnected from the Internet. On the RT.com Russian TV news site, ‘James’ wrote in the comments: “Why use typewriters? They could use word processors and computers without networking capabilities."
But even the typewriter and related communication could be monitored, with some determination, according to commenters. Alex Povolotski writes in the comments section of RT.com: "Manual typewriters are no good either. The vibrations they create affect window vibrations as well in the building. Through that, you can determine which key is pressed at one given time. Also, you could plant a good old key logger that will log the keys being pressed and will wirelessly transmit this data. If dictations are made, then LED lamps are a great help as LED lightbulbs [can] record voice conversations nicely. Privacy? Non-existent."
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