Re:German government to use Trojan spyware to monitor citizens
by terminalcommand on Wednesday February 24, 2016 @01:37AM
(#11164970)
Digital evidence is IMO a different matter than physical evidence.
The threshold for implanting fake digital evidence is very low. You need fewer people, you can cover your traces easily...
To break-in and install cameras you need to find a suitable time where the suspect is away for a long time. And you can't always break-in to the house and change things, you won't be permitted.
The monitoring of the use of these trojans is the most important problem.
With a trojan horse you have access to the computer 24/7 and you can do whatever you want.
Of course you could argue that police could also plant fake physical evidence, but that's a lot harder to do and you need more people. (more witnesses)
There is a thin line seperating a state of law from a police state.
Re:German government to use Trojan spyware to monitor citizens
by rudolf0 on Wednesday February 24, 2016 @01:27PM
(#11168956)
It's true that it is probably easier to get away with planting fake digital evidence than fake physical evidence. But, I mean, there has to be some trust in law enforcement. If law enforcement does this on a regular basis - and the US police have much more in the past, especially against certain minority groups - the entire system collapses.
So until there's evidence of German law enforcement planting fake evidence, I still see no issue with this.
This is basically the same thing as using malware for surveillance. I'd argue the malware is even less invasive.