In January of 2009, the British government implemented an edict decided by European officials in Brussels, under which the police in Britain have the right to hack into private computers.
Remote access of computers has been possible since 1994, and was made legal, when carried out by the state in pursuit of a criminal by changes to the law in 1990, but it still raised issues about the right to privacy of citizens.
Under the edict, French, German, British, and officials from other European states have the right to request that officers from MI5 or the police in Britain hack into the computers of suspects and other persons of interest, without a warrant, and using remote access technology.
Using this technology, British officials are able to covertly and without permission from either the owner of the computer or a judge, and can access emails, instant messages, and web histories, among other information.
The only stipulation in order to obtain such a search is that an official believes that there may be a chance that the person in question is doing something suspicious, and there is no requirement either for a court order, or for a paper trail of any sort.
Human rights groups opposed the move, saying that it was tantamount to illegal search of a person's private residence, but according to experts, all that would be required should anyone want to transmit every single keystroke the victim of such a search made would be to install a key logging device on the computer in question. The internet and privacy is a hot topic right now, as many high profile websites like Gawker Media, McDonalds, and Walgreens have been hacked lately. A common internet threat is malware. There are also certain types of malware that may be used, or police to hack into suspects' computers may use the wireless network itself.
Police and other government officials cited the ability to stop cyber criminals, including paedophiles and fraudsters as the motivation for the new law, but privacy advocacy groups argued that not having to follow regular search channels made the public liable to unwarranted and illegal searches, without their knowledge. The debate on internet privacy rages on, with both sides claiming good points to be made for their cases.
Source: ezinearticles.com