A law has been passed that would enable police in France to track suspects by remotely activating the cameras, microphones, and GPS on their phones.
The bill allows for the geolocation of criminal suspects and extends to other gadgets like laptops, cars, and connected devices. It also allows for the remote activation of devices to record sound and images of people suspected of committing terrorism offenses as well as crimes related to delinquency and organized crime.
Although, the spying provision, which is part of a wider “justice reform bill”, has been attacked by the left and rights defenders as an authoritarian snoopers’ charter.
The provisions “raise serious concerns over infringements of fundamental liberties,” stated a La Quadrature du Net is a French organization that advocates for digital freedoms and rights.
The group cited the “right to security, right to a private life and to private correspondence” and “the right to come and go freely,” specifically called the proposal a part of a “slide into heavy-handed security.”
But lawmakers agreed to the bill late Wednesday as Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti insisted the bill would affect only “dozens of cases a year.”
During the debate on Wednesday, the members of parliament in the camp of President Emmanuel Macron inserted an amendment limiting the use of remote spying to “when justified by the nature and seriousness of the crime” and “for a strictly proportional duration.” They pointed out that any application for use of the provision must be approved by a judge, and that the total duration of the surveillance cannot exceed six months.
Sensitive occupations like those of doctors, journalists, lawyers, judges, and legislators, according to them, would not be acceptable targets.
The justice bill’s provision enabling law enforcement to covertly activate cameras and microphones on suspects’ devices received approval from the Senate last month.
Since 2015, when terrorist attacks rocked France, the country has increased its surveillance powers, and the “Keeper of the Seal” bill has been likened to the infamous US Patriot Act.
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Source: gazettengr.com
