14 DAY TRIAL // If the Americans and the British are doing it, why not the French, right? Well, that seems to be the logic followed by French politicians who seek to pass a law that allows the authorities to access and gather Internet user data without going through any type of court.
The proposed law has already been slammed by activists who claim that it simply goes against all principles of democracy. The voting for the 2014-2019 Defense Appropriation takes place today. Article 13 is the one that expands the authorities’ powers to monitor and collect Internet data in real time without judicial oversight, RT reports.
This means that Internet service providers and content hosting companies will be required by lawmakers to give out details about local users’ activities.
Naturally, this part of the legislation has attracted a lot of bad reactions from human rights activists. Furthermore, it’s quite hypocritical of them to try to pass such a bill considering all the fuss they’ve made about the NSA’s spying practices in the past months, with Francois Hollande threatening to put trade talks between the US and the European Union on hold following reports that the Americans have been keeping an eye on French citizens.
Reports based on Edward Snowden’s leaked files have indicated that, in a single month, between December 2012 and January 2013, the NSA gathered a huge amount of data from France, namely some 70 million phone calls. Given the number, it seems quite likely that other types of data have been gathered, while the fact that the operations have been going on for a while is quite obvious.
“A number of actors are attempting to turn the Internet into something it is not – a tool to violate personal liberties. The Internet is an extraordinary social, political and economic accelerator, in spite of what some may try and make us believe,” said Guillaume Buffet, president of Renaissance Numerique.