The Dutch public prosecution department used a ‘keylogger’ to register keyboard movements as part of its research into a Dutch online sex criminal suspected of blackmailing Canadian girl Amanda Todd.

Amanda Todd killed herself in October 2012 after a film of her was circulated on YouTube. She was being blackmailed by a man who had made online sex videos of her.

The suspect in the case is Dutch national Aydin C, 36, who was arrested in January. Todd is one of some 40 girls C is suspected of abusing online.

Tip-off

According to court documents seen by reporters from current affairs show Nieuwsuur, justice ministry officials were tipped off via Facebook in December 2013. They then broke into the holiday house C was staying in and installed the keylogger on his computer.

A keylogger places software on the computer which allows all keyboard movements to be monitored and takes screenshots so chat room conversations and webcam images can be followed.

Computer security professor Bart Jacobs told the broadcaster this is the first time he is aware of that use of a keylogger has been explicitly mentioned in legal files. ‘And I have to ask if this is allowed by law,’ he said. ‘I think it is on the edge.’

Aydin C is suspected of blackmailing some 40 girls, some of whom are abroad. He did this by posing as a teenaged girl himself. After persuading his victims to carry out sex acts via the webcam, he threatened to send them to family and friends unless they went further.

C will appear in court in Amsterdam on Friday for a remand hearing.