The An0m scandal: bypassing wiretap laws

jd writes: For those who don't know, An0m was a fake phone sold by the Australian and US governments to criminals so they could spy on them more easily.

I have no doubt the US and Australian governments feel vindicated by the massive success of their fake secure phones, and it's not unreasonable to congratulate stopping murders, but data swapping via a third party to bypass the law isn't that much different from what the gangs were doing.

I'm glad they saw that weakening security for the innocent wasn't necessary after all, and that's something to keep reminding them, but ethics didn't feature heavily in this and, as the article notes, what's to stop a tyrant doing the same against rivals or innocent protestors? It's not like the UK hasn't sent in undercover spies as honeypots or passed laws to legally arrest "potential subversives".