Germany's highest court has restricted the right of the security services to spy on the computers of suspected criminals and terrorists.
Under the technique, software sent in an email enables the authorities to spy on a suspect's computer hard drive. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said cyber spying violated individuals' right to privacy and could be used only in exceptional cases. (Similar software is used by criminal spies, who lure unsuspecting email recipients to open attachments).
Civil liberties activists have warned of an unacceptable invasion of privacy.
Meanwhile, Britain continues to be close to the top of the surveillance society league, according to a recent report in The Economist, and most of us are not particularly bothered, if it ensures our security, polls consistently confirm.
