(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Once upon a time, it was common practice to call on the door before entering the human sphere of privacy. You politely asked, "May I come in?" Or you waited patiently for the invitation: "Come in, come in!" That time is probably long over. Citizens' privacy is now threatened by the perverted and curious burial of the authorities, in their boundless pursuit of sensitive information.
A new law gives investigators in Germany access to all communications from smartphones, and so-called "state trojans" are in the process of infiltrating the digital information flow. According to the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, state trojans are actively used in surveillance of citizens: All data exchange is monitored by the German state, investigators can explicitly gain access to any intimate or confidential communication. Security barriers and firewalls – which previously protected users from surveillance – have been breached. Do we accept this?
Once upon a time, it was common practice to call on the door before entering the human sphere of privacy.
Trojan-law. The German Federal Criminal Office (Federal Criminal Police) installs state trojans on private computers, laptops and iPhones. The state has a legal basis for this – but the law is highly questionable: Trojan law was passed after a brief probing process and took effect August 24, 2017. Using a type of spy software, which intends to monitor every form for communications to and from the "source", the law allows authorities to infiltrate and monitor IT systems of all kinds. In addition, spy Trojans circumvent all types of security programs that protect cell phones, tablets and laptops. The software is not only technically complete – it is already actively being used. And of course used in hiding.
Investigators who plant the spy program do not like the term "state trojans" and instead make surveillance harmless by talking about "Quellen-TKÛ" – which means "monitoring telecommunications directly at the source of communication". But this is no joke at all. The new form of surveillance is another highlight of the 9/11 policy. Since September 11, 2001, politics in Germany – and the Western world – has been transforming the former rule of law into "prevention and security" states. The prevention and security state is precisely fed by the legal guarantees of the old rule of law. Prevention and security state arises by simultaneously destroying the old state guarantees, claims expert Fredrik Roggan.
Fredrik Roggan is professor of criminal justice at the police academy in Brandenburg outside Berlin. In the journal "Criminal Defense" he mentions the new digital inquisition as follows: it takes place in secret, and it is practiced over a longer time span and to a large extent. And it's not just new communication content that can be monitored: old which is stored in the information technology system – that is, content also from several years back – and the digital user pattern may be subject to review. This includes diary-like journals, audio files and movie recordings.
A Trojan on the mobile. German criminal investigations are using a type of "state trojan" that even WhatsApp cannot protect against. And this applies not only to people who are being investigated for criminal matters, but to absolutely anyone who owns a cell phone. Therefore, it can be argued that the description "digital inquisition" is apt: It does not cause physical pain in the individual, but it is simply everywhere – at all times. The surveillance confirms that electronic communication is no longer free, but on the contrary, it collects intimate information about the inhabitants of the investigators' analogue or digital archives. All communication is thus subject to the authority of the authorities. The German Constitutional Court has previously formulated the following: Free and protected communication should be a "fundamental opportunity for all citizens of a free state, and safeguard the citizens' capacity for free exercise and participation in society". The wording now turns out to be a fairy tale. "The right to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of information technology systems" was proclaimed by the German Constitutional Court in 2008 (in a sentencing ruling applicable to online searches). It has now lost its credibility.
This is the exact opposite of the state's self-imposed task: to protect the privacy of citizens, their fundamental rights and their freedom.
Fredrik Roggan, an expert in police and criminal law, has described the conflict in state trojans law as follows: "First, from state level, there is a growing interest in infiltrating IT systems, in order to be able to use state trojans more effectively. Second, there is a conscious belief that security gaps in public electronic communications systems should not be sealed – even though the authorities clearly know the gaps. The reason is that those in power benefit from these gaps, in the investigation of suspects or of persons who – according to the authorities – pose a potential threat to society. This is the exact opposite of the state's self-imposed task: to protect citizens' privacy, their fundamental rights and their freedom, Roggan concludes. The Ministry of Security and Information Technology aims to promotion the security of information technology.
Why have the citizens accepted this so far? Probably this has three causes. First, the politicians maintain and dominate the people's fear of terror. The surveillance is thus accepted, on the pretext that it can protect against or prevent terrorist attacks. Second: Citizens do not notice that they are being monitored. State trojans are used in hiding, without anyone noticing that they are being spied on. Third, the citizens of Germany believe for a long time that the Constitutional Court will be able to stop surveillance "in an emergency". But the fact is that the Karlsruhe court does not have the capacity to stay up to date on the technical innovations of spyware or other high-tech software.
However, at the same time as the installation of state trojans, the citizens affected by the surveillance are given a legal opportunity to protest against it in the Karlsruhe Constitutional Court.
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