Germany Seeks Expansion of Computer Spying

gooman writes "The LA Times reports on a proposal to secretly scan suspects' hard drives which is causing unease in a nation with a history of official surveillance. 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."

Comments

I hear facism worked for them before

[netsavior]

I wasn't around back then, but I'm pretty sure facism has a proven track record in germany.

Re:Europe beating USA in the big brother arms race

[owlnation]

Yes, Airstrip One is proudly ahead of the rest of Oceania. The US is many orders of magnitude freer than the UK.

The UK government is probably already doing this, who needs democratic authority in a country where citizens have no right to free speech. And most are too drunk or hungover to think clearly enough to exercise that right on any given day. Seriously, if you know what's good for you, stay away from Britain. V for Vendetta may yet turn out to be a documentary.

Incidentally, I'd be interested in how anyone defines "suspect" in this context.

Re:Europe beating USA in the big brother arms race

[MightyMartian]

So as long as a government makes intrusions on our liberties law, that's okay? I'm a little confused here, because that makes North Korea and China better countries than the US.

Re:When will Europe learn?

[arminw]

.....Latest one got 15000 attendants....

Really, out of about 80 million Germans? Wow, what a turnout!