KARLSRUHE, Germany - Germany's highest court ruled on Wednesday that government surveillance of personal computers is a violation of privacy.
The court said the basic right to privacy, including stored data, is protected by Germany's constitution.
"Collecting such data directly encroaches on citizens' rights, given that fear of being observed ... can prevent un-self-conscious personal communication," Judge Hans-Juergen Papier said.
The case started in 2007 when officials in North Rhine-Westphalia started spying on computer-related activities using "policeware" that includes trojans and spyware. The government said spying was important in the fight against terrorism.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble suggested changing German law to grant the government additional freedom to use policeware and engage in other computer-related surveillance.
Papier disagreed, calling the North Rhine-Westphalia law unconstitutional and saying his ruling would set a precedent for handling privacy.
However, Papier ruled that the state could use some surveillance services under extreme conditions, with prior permission from a judge. Such exceptions would be made when there is "clear evidence of a concrete threat," similar to what is required to tap a suspect's phone lines under current German law.
Schäuble said he would refer to the clause allowing surveillance when preparing new legislation.
"I hope that the insecurity felt by young people will be tempered by this decision," he said, according to the Associated Press. "It shows that our government ... protects the people's rights."
The ruling clashes with examples set by countries like the United States and those in the United Kingdom, which push for increased surveillance at the expense of privacy.
Network security experts warned earlier this month that such large-scale digital surveillance could actually create new security risks.
"The U.S. could build for its opponents something that would be too expensive for them to build for themselves," researchers noted, "a system that lets them see the U.S.'s intelligence interests, a system that could tell them how to thwart those interests, and a system that might be turned to intercept the communications of American citizens and institutions."
