France is attracting widespread criticism after introducing a new law which allows the government to gather even more digital information than before.
The country’s government has pushed through a new law that extends the scope of telecoms and internet surveillance by the state, even though it has since been heavily criticised by various authorities, including the country’s data protection watchdog and the employers’ federation.
The new law, which is part of a new military programming law that was passed on Wednesday, allows the country to gather digital information previously limited to intelligence agencies tied to the defence, interior, finance and budget ministries. […]
Furthermore, Phillipe Aigrain, co-founder of non-profit organisation La Quadrature du Net, which looks at internet privacy, said that the law is “total abuse of citizen’s privacy”.
“In the context of Snowden’s revelations on massive and generalised citizen surveillance, it is shocking to see the French Parliament adopt a text that enshrines the state of emergency and allows total abuse of citizen’s privacy,” said Aigrain in a blog post. He added, “Representatives must hear the call of civil society and activate recourse to the Constitutional Council”. […]
http://www.scmagazineuk.com/france-under-fire-for-new-digital-surveillance-law/article/325304/