Germany expands surveillance of encrypted message services

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>Germany on Thursday passed a controversial new law that expands the power of authorities to spy on the content of encrypted message services such as WhatsApp and Skype.

>German investigators will now be able to insert into users' cellphones and computers spy software (or a "Trojan horse") to access data in encrypted message services such as popular applications WhatsApp and Skype, including as part of criminal investigations.

>The new law is seen as a significant change for a country that usually is very protective of private information, given the burden of Germany's past dictatorships, the Nazi regime in the 1930s-40s and the communist government in the east of the country after the war.

>The opposition far-left and Greens parties voted against the law, however, criticising it as an unlimited extension of a surveillance tool in the country.