Secret service can hack innocent people to reach target: Volkskrant

The new law giving greater powers to the secret service to intercept internet traffic will allow officials to hack innocent people despite protests by privacy groups, the Volkskrant said on Friday.

The paper bases its claim on the new draft legislation, which has not yet been officially published. The new powers mean that people who share the same server as suspects could be hacked by the spy service to get access to their targets.

Ministers say this is crucial because suspects are often well protected against hacking. The new powers will apply only to the security service, not the police, the Volkskrant said.

Privacy groups have already warned that this will create ‘unacceptable risks to privacy’.

‘Someone who is completely innocent can suddenly find the secret service accessing their data,’ Ton Siedsma of Bits of Freedom told the Volkskrant. This could include their phones, tablets, smart watches, fridges and even cars, the paper said.

Ministers say that the security services will have to have permission from a special commission before they can access non-suspects internet traffic.