KARLSRUHE, Germany, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A German federal court on Monday decided that German security agents cannot secretly spy on the hard drive of a suspect's computer.
Judges of a federal court in Karlsruhe said searching the hard drive of a suspect via Trojans was illegal, and could only happen with the knowledge of the suspect because of privacy rights. Online data, such as emails, documents and pictures, are often as intimate as private conversations and thus to be protected, the judges argued.
Observers say the decision hurts the country's anti-terror operations, many of which are based on online searches.
Germany's Interior Ministry has recently drawn up a plan to improve means for online searches for intelligence and police officials; yet after Monday's verdict, the government has to find a different legal basis for such searches.
