Now Germany is debating the topic Police authorities in
Germany have been prohibited from "hacking" into a suspect's
computer by a recent supreme court ruling. The German court
determined hacking techniques couldn't be used because no legal
framework exists at this time. Further debate is possible and
Germany's Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble will reportedly push
for the legal changes needed to allow the police to perform such
activities. Deutsche Welle has an English language article with
more details
here.