Germany has passed new anti-terrorism legislation that paves the way for spying on private computers and people by the authorities, inside and outside Germany.
The controversial legislation had already been voted on and did not receive enough votes to pass. It was revised to introduce some changes and ended up getting the necessary votes for approval in the upper house of parliament, not without avoiding great controversy. Angela Merkelās coalition majority secured approval.
The legislation provides that terrorism suspects can be spied on by the police through wiretapping, video surveillance in homes and programs installed, via the Internet, on their computers. The legislation clearly refers to the possibility of introducing trojan programs to follow in the footsteps of the suspects.
Putting the measures on the ground requires a court order, but the authorities have the green light to skip this authorization in urgent cases, one of the most controversial aspects of the legislation, details the international press.
