Proposed French Law Approves Spying On Citizens By Remotely Activating Smartphone’s Camera, Mic, GPS

Published: Friday, July 7, 2023, 18:12 [IST]

The French government has proposed amendments to a law that essentially allows law enforcement and investigating agencies to spy on people through their phones and electronic devices.

As part of a wider Justice Reform Bill, the France National Assembly passed a bill this week that allows the French police to remotely activate cameras, microphones, and GPS location systems on the phones and other devices of people under surveillance.

Is France Becoming A Surveillance Or Police State?

Freedom comes at the cost of sacrifices. For the French citizenry, the cost of freedom appears to be their right to privacy, the opposition political parties in France are claiming.

The opposition is calling the newly proposed amendments a “slide into heavy-handed security”. The digital rights group La Quadrature du Net claimed the provisions “raise serious concerns over infringements of fundamental liberties”.

The group argued that police could utilize preexisting and newly discovered security vulnerabilities and loopholes devices to target dissidents. Moreover, it might use security flaws or shortcomings to its advantage, instead of alerting manufacturers and asking them to patch those holes.

It is not clear how exploiting unknown and unpatched security flaws or vulnerabilities would be a part of the French government’s plan. However, the proposed law does offer way more authority to the police, and that too during peacetime without the French government declaring a national emergency.

New Surveillance Provisions Do Have Restrictions And Conditions

France is currently experiencing nationwide riots, which have morphed into multiple cases of vandalism, arson, and looting. The country’s infrastructure is being torched at an alarming rate.

Despite the seemingly correct timing to increase surveillance and bring the guilty to justice, the proposed amendments to the law do have necessary checks and balances.

A few caveats have been added to prevent the government from becoming a full-blown authoritarian and surveillance state. To surveil any suspect, a judge will have to approve the use of special powers.

Even if the judge grants permission for surveillance, the police cannot continue spying on the suspects for more than six months. Moreover, the said powers cannot be used against journalists, lawyers, MPs, and other “sensitive professions”.

Although there are limitations, the mere possibility of remotely accessing and controlling a target’s devices is concerning. With these tools, the police and the politicians could spy on law-abiding citizens who protest against government policies, some lawmakers fear.

Incidentally, the Senate green-lit the provisions of the Justice Bill last month. However, after the new amendments were introduced this week, the proposal will be sent back for the President’s approval before it becomes law.

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