The results of American police hacking are used to identify and prosecute people in Norway who have accessed child-sex-abuse material online. The method has not been legal in Norway until recently.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has collected information on anonymous users who entered the so-called ‘Dark Web’ to seek abuse material involving children.
When the FBI took control of the servers carrying the material, they placed spyware which could identify users, and thus track them down.
The method has not been permitted in Norway, but evidence provided by the FBI has been used in at least seven cases in Norway, including in Operation Darkroom, reported Adresseavisen. Lawyers have responded to the development.
‘Evidence gained in this manner is illegal for prosecutors in Norway to use’, said Marius O. Dietrichson’, head of the defence group in the Bar Association. He emphasizes, that he speaks on the basis of what the newspaper has stated.
Local police received information from the National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), who would not say how the information was collected.
‘As an international focal point for Norwegian police, we receive information from foreign police authorities about Norwegians who may have committed criminal acts.
We assume that the information is collected using lawful methods in the country where such information has been obtained’, explained Reinert Møster Ottesen, who heads the judicial and prosecution unit in Kripos.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
