Austria legalises state spyware amidst strong opposition

On 9 July, Austrian parliamentarians passed a highly controversial bill legalising the deployment of state-sponsored spyware, known as the Federal Trojan (Bundestrojaner), to enable the interception of encrypted communications.

It would do so by amending several laws, including:

• the State Security and Intelligence Service Act;
• the Security Police Act;
• the Telecommunications Act;
• the Federal Administrative Court Act; and
• the Judges’ and Public Prosecutors’ Service Act.

The interior minister Gerhard Karner, described it as a “special day for security.”