 The
first evidence was the bombs themselves, packed into a pair of suitcases
and left on two passenger trains in northwest Germany.
Because of a technical flaw, they never exploded. The laptop of one of
the suspects contained plans, sketches and maps, a virtual road map to
an attack that could have killed dozens.
What if law enforcement agents had been able to secretly scan the
contents of the computer before the attempted attack was carried out?
To the unease of many in a country with a history of government spying
through the era of the Gestapo and communist rule in East Germany, law
enforcement authorities are using the suitcase bomb case to argue for
measures that would significantly expand their ability to spy on the
once-private realm of My Documents.
Now, along with several other European countries, Germany is seeking
authority to plant secret Trojan viruses into the computers of suspects
that could scan files, photos, diagrams and voice recordings, record
every keystroke typed and possibly even turn on webcams and microphones
in an attempt to gain knowledge of attacks before they happen.
What this case showed us is that they are using laptops, they are
using computers, and it would have been very, very helpful to track them
down with online searches, said Gerhard Schindler, director of the
German Interior Ministry's counter-terrorism bureau.
The proposal significantly raises the stakes in the balance between
privacy and security in Germany.
Already, Romania, Cyprus, Latvia and Spain have laws that allow "online
searches," according to a report from Germany's Interior Ministry, which
conducted an informal survey in Europe. Switzerland and Slovenia appear
to also allow such searches, and Sweden is in the process of adopting
similar legislation, the report said.
In the U.S., where battles are being fought over warrantless
surveillance of telephone and Internet communications, the FBI is known
to have implanted software designed to identify target computers. But it
is unknown, and the FBI won't say, whether the government has tried to
surreptitiously search the contents of hard drives.
Police say that although the current authority to enter a suspect's home
and seize computers and storage drives for inspection is helpful, there
are times when the ability to probe without the suspect's knowledge, by
way of an e-bug implanted when he unknowingly opened an e-mail
attachment, might yield crucial information.
Federal intelligence agencies already had been conducting these kinds of
online searches but were forced to halt the practice in February, when
the Federal Court of Justice ruled it was illegal. The interior minister
said such searches would not resume before the passage of legislation,
and possibly an amendment of Germany's Basic Law, to allow them.
The government is awaiting a decision from the federal Constitutional
Court, which is hearing a legal challenge to the procedure brought in a
provincial case, and, depending on the outcome, could present proposed
legislation by the end of the year.
Critics of the proposed policy complain that it could circumvent the
normal, adversarial legal procedures for searches precisely because of
its secrecy.
Computer aficionados say it's doubtful that any criminal worth his salt
would be foolish enough to open an e-mail attachment with a Trojan virus
embedded in it. Government officials responded that they might embed the
programs in communications from the tax authorities, a proposal that
raised more controversy, with critics saying it would cause the public
to mistrust all government communications.
|
Gordon
Brown has set himself on a collision course with the legal establishment
over plans to give civil servants and government agencies the power to
remove people’s passports without going through the courts.
Every
town hall has been ordered to send out surveys demanding local
residents' personal information and opinions.
A
screen shot posted to the web over the weekend seems to show that
Canada's largest provider of high-speed internet access is exploring a
controversial data substitution technique that lets it add its own
content to the webpages customers visit.
The
death of a Polish man at Vancouver International Airport has sparked an
intense debate in Canada over the increasing use of Tasers by
law-enforcement officials. Concerns over the use of these electric shock
guns has mounted in several other countries after a UN Committee on
Human Rights recently labeled their impact "torture."
French
web users caught pirating movies or music could soon be thrown offline.
The
Home Office has recently published a consultation paper which hints at
what was really meant by Gordon Brown's promise to look again at the law
which restricts demonstrations near parliament, far from repealing this
legislation the consultation indicates that the government wants to
extend the restrictions on demonstrations to cover the whole country.
Passengers
on flights and ferries between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland
will be required to carry identity papers for the first time from next
year.
Travellers
face price hikes and confusion after the Government unveiled plans to
take up to 53 pieces of information from anyone entering or leaving
Britain.
Police
in India wrongfully arrested and detained a Bangalore man for 50 days
after internet service provider Airtel mis-identified him as the person
who posted images on Orkut that insulted a revered historical figure.
Operator
of German Tor server arrested
Intolerable
pain weapon for crowd control
Mandatory
human chip implants to be banned in California
And
finding it in Germany
Government
needs a bit of its own medicine
Google
profiled as 'intrusive'
Google to build personality profiles of gamers