BERLIN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The German government hopes to pass a law in German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) Thursday which would enable state authorities to extensively survey digital communication.
According to the law, "for more effective and practice-oriented criminal procedure," authorities would be given the right to use malware to infiltrate and access data on digital devices during the investigation of offenses such as murder, manslaughter and currency counterfeiting.
Currently, such technology in Germany can only legally be employed in exceptional cases under strict judicial oversight to prevent an acute and concrete danger.
As digital messenger services including Skype, WhatsApp and Telegram have gained in popularity however, officials in Germany and elsewhere have become concerned about their implications for wider crime prevention.
Often relying on sophisticated encryption software, these services have resisted passing on information about their users, citing privacy concerns.
The German government now seeks to obtain access to data before it can be encrypted with specially designed malware, which it views as a critical measure to enhance national security.
"Traditional surveillance of telecommunications has reached its limits since offenders have started using encrypted digital messenger services and only order pizza on the phone," Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker, legal policy spokesperson for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) fraction in the Bundestag, said.
There was no use, she said, in authorities using investigative measures which "completely bypass criminal behavior."
If passed, the law could mark the most significant expansion of state surveillance in modern German history.
Investigative authorities would be able to infiltrate the private devices of both suspects and individuals such as friends, families and colleagues, when deemed necessary.
The extensive list of offenses which would justify surveillance through governmental malware ranges from terrorism to "encouraging an improper application for asylum".
