Legislators in France are watching closely the fight between Apple and the FBI, but, in the meantime, the French National Assembly has amended a pending counterterrorism bill to impose heavy penalties on technology companies that fail to cooperate in decrypting communications relating to terrorism investigations.
Source: lawfareblog.com
In its disclosure of government requests for user data, Twitter notes that there has been a 400% increase in demands for account information from France, likely in response to the terrorist attacks of November 2015. The report also shows that Twitter has continued to refuse to hand over users’ data to the governments of Turkey and Russia. Meanwhile, Twitter granted 61% of such requests from France, and 79% from the U.S.
Source: accessnow.org
“Emergency” Measures May Be Written Into the French Constitution:
Since last month’s attacks, there have been some 2,500 police raids, and nearly a thousand people have been arrested or detained. French local and national press are now full of reports of questionable police raids. So outrageous were some cases that the French Interior Ministry had to send a letter to all prefects reminding them to “abide by the law.”
The state of emergency, which was initially supposed to mitigate the threat posed by Islamic terrorism, has been used to target environmental and political activists who have nothing to do with radical Islam, let alone terrorism. Several heavily armed police officers stormed the home of produce farmers in rural France, and Le Monde reported that at least 24 people closely involved with protests around COP21, the Paris climate conference, were placed under house arrest. This includes a member of the legal team of Coalition Climat 21, a well-established gathering of more than 130 organizations and NGOs. The French Human Rights League said the minister of the interior was confusing terrorism with normal civic activities and concluded, “The state of emergency is a danger to civil liberties.”
Yet rather than be regarded as a temporary measure for extraordinary circumstances, the government’s ability to declare an extended state of emergency may soon be written into the constitution.
France will not ban Wi-Fi or Tor, prime minister says:
In the weeks after the deadly attacks in Paris, France has been in a perpetual state of emergency. Le Monde reported an internal law enforcement document proposing to restrict freedom of Internet access ostensibly as a way to fight terrorism.
“A ban of Wi-Fi is not a course of action envisaged,” Valls responded on Wednesday. Nor is he in favor of a ban on Tor, which encrypts and masks users’ identifying data, the Connexion reported.
“Internet is a freedom, is an extraordinary means of communication between people, it is a benefit to the economy,” Valls added.
Even so, the global response to Paris involves lawmakers in Europe and the United States calling for new legislation on technology.
Source: dailydot.com
The French newspaper Le Monde received leaked documents last week indicating that the Interior Ministry recommended banning the use of Tor to help fight terrorism. This is a reactionary and misguided response that would undermine the security of vulnerable people not only in France but all over the world. Worse, it’s the latest in a series of encroachments on privacy in France, which passed four new pieces of legislation to fight terrorism in the past two years.
On Wednesday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls seemed to reassure Internet users by stating on television that the banning of Tor was not part of “the expected path” for the government (“pas une piste envisagée”). This is a welcome gesture, but not a definitive commitment. Until we see the final text of the bill proposed by the Interior Ministry, everything is still on the table.
It’s time to set the record straight on why banning Tor is a terrible idea for human rights and privacy.
Source: dailydot.com
The main problem with such a ban on Tor is that it wouldn’t achieve a whole lot. Would-be terrorists could still access Tor from outside the country, and if they manage to access Tor from within France I doubt they’re concerned about being arrested for illegal use of the network. There is evidence to suggest that the recent Paris attacks were planned via unencrypted channels, too: the Bataclan “go” message was sent in the clear via SMS.
On the other hand, criminalising and/or blocking Tor might affect many other legitimate users of the network, such as whistleblowers, journalists, and anyone else who wants to surf the Web privately.
Source: Ars Technica
After the Paris attacks, France enacts sweeping legislation limiting fundamental freedoms:
It was 21h32 on November 13th when time stopped in France and around the world as Paris was attacked in its heart. One hundred and thirty people were killed while enjoying dinners with friends, celebrating birthdays, and dancing at a concert. The French government, with the support of most of the population and political groups, rapidly declared a state of emergency that was initially scheduled to last 12 days. This drastic measure, not used since World War II, altered the normal balance of powers in France, giving more discretion to the President and the government.
The following week, as the police and military forces were tracking the perpetrators of the attacks, people around the world sent messages showing their support for the people of Paris, and France was moved by an unprecedented rush of solidarity. Since several suspects remained at large, the President requested that the parliament extend the state of emergency to three months, and modify the French law on the state of emergency, which dates from 1955. Parliament granted both requests with limited opposition, despite the absence of justification for the changes, and despite the fact that the modifications created new measures extending surveillance powers and limiting freedoms. More radical changes could come as the French have government has chosen this difficult period to consider modifying the Constitution, which would officially shift France from the Fifth to the Sixth Republic.
Source: accessnow.org
When Edward Snowden disclosed details of America’s huge surveillance program two years ago, many in Europe thought that the response would be increased transparency and stronger oversight of security services. European countries, however, are moving in the opposite direction. Instead of more public scrutiny, we are getting more snooping.
Pushed to respond to the atrocious attacks in Paris and Copenhagen and by the threats posed by the Islamic State to Europe’s internal security, several countries are amending their counterterrorism legislation to grant more intrusive powers to security services, especially in terms of mass electronic surveillance.
Source: The New York Times
Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité are taking a backseat as the French Parliament moves forward with its international mass #Surveillance Bill, and there are a few things you should know about it.
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.
Source: theverge.com