Police repeatedly and illegally read WhatsApp Accounts in Germany

Police authorities regularly monitor the WhatsApp accounts of users to which they have gained access. The officials often act unlawfully, such as one of Netzpolitik.org Published document from the Customs Criminal Investigation Office shows.

Access cloned

When monitoring communication with encrypted messengers such as WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram, the focus is usually on the use of state trojans. However, investigators often achieve their goal without using expensive malware technology: they simply gain access to the respective user account in various ways and then use it far beyond the permitted limits.

According to the document that has now been published, the procedure at the Customs Criminal Investigation Office has been used to monitor messengers since the end of 2023. The Federal Criminal Police Office has also been using similar methods for a long time. After a testing phase, this has been one of the customs standard instruments for investigations since last year.

The officers take advantage of the opportunity if they somehow get access to a smartphone, even for a short period of time. This can be the case, for example, if investigators pretend to the owner that they only want to take a quick look at the connection list, for example. The moment is then used to set up a second access to the messenger account on an office PC using a QR code comparison.

According to the BGH, the legal situation is clear

From this moment on, government employees can read and copy all communication or even send messages themselves under the name of the smartphone owner. As a rule, this goes well beyond what the investigators have been approved by a judge. Sometimes you don’t even need access to your smartphone. If the messenger platform authenticates the coupling process using a code that is sent via SMS, normal telephone surveillance is sufficient for the police to be able to secretly break into the respective account.

There is currently no concrete legal basis for such an approach. While the officers interpret laws in their favor, lawyers and sometimes courts assume that the police are acting unlawfully. The Federal Court of Justice, for example, has already decided this in such a case.