Officials have admitted using a backdoor trojan that circumvents German constitution to spy on activity on “suspects' computers.”

Government representatives from four German states have held their hands up to planting a trojan that was exposed earlier this week by German hacking outfit The Chaos Computer Club.

The group discovered that the Trojan included a keylogger and was able to take screenshots, monitor Skype and MSN Messenger conversations and activate webcams.

As reported by Deutsche Welle Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg and Lower Saxony officials have admitted the accusations but claim that it was used for lawful purposes.

Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger wasn’t convinced and has called for a thorough investigation.

"Trying to play down or trivialise the matter won't do," said Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger in a statement. "The citizen, in both the public and private spheres, must be protected from snooping through strict state control mechanisms."

According to German law, the authorities are permitted to use spyware to monitor criminals but the guidelines are extremely tight and limit what is legally allowed to be recorded. It's currently unclear what the consequences would be if the government are accused of foul play.