The Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people's personal computers without a warrant.

The move, which follows a decision by the European Union's council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state which drives "a coach and horses" through privacy laws. The hacking is known as "remote searching".

Read full story: Times Online

Updates:  UPDATED Jan 09, 2009 5:56 PM PST
Security vendors: We would block police hacking ZDNet UK, Jan.8.2009
Police Hacking Securiteam, Jan.9.2009

Related topics: Law, Privacy, Security