German data breach prompts calls for improved online security

FILE PHOTO: Security personnel sits behind the bullet-proof window at the headquarters of Germany's BSI national cyber defence body in Bonn, Germany, January 4, 2019, after personal data and documents of German politicians and public figures have been published online. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - German government officials called on Monday for a tightening of data security laws after a far-reaching breach exposed the documents of hundreds of politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The leader of the opposition Greens party said he had cancelled his Twitter and Facebook accounts following the data breach, one of the largest ever in privacy-conscious Germany.