Hacker group files criminal complaint against German government surveillance

After recent NSA leaks, the German is now facing a new threat on the legal front. The German hacker group Chaos Computer Club has joined forces with the International League for Human Rights to file a criminal complaint against the government, based on recent revelations of mass electronic surveillance. “We accuse US, British, and German secret agents, their supervisors, the German minister of the interior as well as the German chancellor of illegal and prohibited covert intelligence activities,” the complaint reads,“ of violation of the right to privacy and obstruction of justice in office by bearing and cooperating with the electronic surveillance of German citizens by NSA and GCHQ.”

The complaint draws heavily on recent NSA documents published in Der Spiegel, which revealed programs to bypass the security of common routers and even implant malware on devices as they’re being delivered to consumers. CCC’s complaint alleges those programs are illegal, and directs the matter to Germany’s federal prosecutor general, who will determine where the case goes from here. “Our laws protect us and threatens those responsible for such surveillance with punishment,” said Dr. Julius Mittenzwei, a practicing attorney with the CCC. “Therefore an investigation by the federal prosecutor general is necessary and mandatory by law.”