Police Hacking regulation abroad

Abstract

The central research question for this study is as follows: What safeguards govern hacking powers abroad, more specifically the use of technical tools, and how does this compare with the Dutch situation? The central research question is answered on the basis of the following subquestions: What countries allow ‘authorised hacking’ and on the basis of which legal ground can foreign police services carry out hacking operations in their own country? What statutory conditions apply in other countries for police services to deploy the hacking power? To what extent do other countries examine technical tools and what has been laid down in legislation and regulations on this? To what extent are there any other rules to ensure the reliability, traceability and integrity of data obtained with the use of technical tools? How does the working method abroad compare with the Dutch working method regarding the approval of technical tools and any other safeguards to achieve data reliability, integrity and traceability?