France’s highest constitutional authority has approved a controversial bill that significantly expands the government’s surveillance powers. In a decision handed down Thursday night, the Constitutional Council ruled that all but three of the bill’s provisions are in line with the French constitution, allowing the law to go into effect despite vehement opposition from civil liberties groups.

The bill, which was passed by France’s parliament in May, allows the government to monitor the phone calls and emails of suspected terrorists without prior authorization from a judge. It also calls for internet service providers to install so-called black boxes that sweep up and analyze metadata on millions of web users, and forces them to make that data freely available to intelligence organizations. Intelligence agents will be able to plant microphones, cameras, and keystroke loggers in the homes of suspected terrorists.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls has championed the measures as essential to defending France against terrorism, though civil rights groups say the law gives disproportionate power to the government. Under the law, the government can authorize surveillance for vaguely defined reasons such as “major foreign policy interests” and preventing “organized delinquency.”

Source: theverge.com

Oh, irony. Only a day after WikiLeaks revealed that the NSA has been spying on the past three French presidents as well as many French officials, France’s lower house adopted the very controversial surveillance law. According to politicians from all parties, France needs a comprehensive intelligence law following the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Yet, in many ways, this law is even broader than the Patriot Act.
France Adopts Extensive Surveillance Law

Source: TechCrunch

Please reblog! Say no to using Charlie Hebdo as an excuse to expand government surveillance. (It’s already happening.)

Please reblog! Say no to using Charlie Hebdo as an excuse to expand government surveillance. (It’s already happening.)