CyberLaw Blog

Archive for January 5th, 2009

China Launches Crackdown on Internet Pornography: “China launched a major crackdown on Internet pornography Monday targeting popular online portals and major search engines such as Google.

(Via NYT > Technology.)

Home Office denies remote snooping plan: “

No change to police rules…yet

The Home Office has denied it has made any change to rules governing how police can remotely snoop on people’s computers.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Police set to step up hacking of home PCs – Times Online

From The Sunday Times, January 4, 2009
Police set to step up hacking of home PCs
David Leppard

THE Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people’s personal computers without a warrant.

The move, which follows a decision by the European Union’s council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state which drives ‘a coach and horses’ through privacy laws.

The hacking is known as ‘remote searching’. It allows police or MI5 officers who may be hundreds of miles away to examine covertly the hard drive of someone’s PC at his home, office or hotel room.

Material gathered in this way includes the content of all e-mails, web-browsing habits and instant messaging.

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