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Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation (www.heise.de)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54414754

In order to monitor encrypted communication, investigators will in future, according to the Senate draft and the Änderungen der Abgeordneten, not only be allowed to hack IT systems but also to secretly enter suspects' apartments.

If remote installation of the spyware is technically not possible, paragraph 26 explicitly allows investigators to "secretly enter and search premises" in order to gain access to IT systems. In fact, Berlin is thus legalizing – as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did before – state intrusion into private apartments in order to physically install Trojans, for example via USB stick.

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[+] -24 points 9 months ago (1 child)

I don't have a problem with the police entering private homes and installing spyware when authorized by a court order supported by strong evidence. That's narrowly focused on investigating crime.

What I'm very concerned about is attempts to perform surveillance without individualized suspicion or independent oversight.

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  • [–] 22 points 9 months ago*

    I think installing spyware on someone's device is two or three steps more drastic a measure than a simple search, which is about the extent of what a court order can authorize police to do right now. It feels conceptually close to tampering with evidence present at a (possible) crime scene. To add to this, spyware is not the same thing as installing a physical listening device in someone's home. It requires far-reaching permissions on a system, and can influence lots of other software on the same system. You'd have to have an extreme level of confidence that this won't lead to accidental or intentional planting of incriminating material. And, in my opinion that sort of load-bearing trust is not really something law enforcement has earned in the general case.

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