Online investigations anti-constitutional

The criminal investigation office of German state of Bavaria is responsible for the use of dubious software for spying on computers uncovered on Sunday, Bavaria's interior ministry has disclosed. This means it may have violated the regulations governing online investigations laid out by the Federal Constitutional Court. But the court itself is not entirely free of blame, says the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper: "It allowed - under strict conditions - the online investigation of computers because it believed in a distinction between good and bad bugs: the state was permitted to use bugs that were in compliance with the constitution for investigating computers, but not bugs that wreaked havoc on the principles outlined in the constitution. ... It seems now that there is no such thing as an online investigation of computers that is in harmony with the constitution. Bugs always eat more than they are allowed to. 'What is the alternative to online investigations?' many people ask. There can only be one answer that admits no abuse: no online investigations."

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