French lawmakers passed a law to allow police to remotely spy on suspects by activating their phones, laptops, microphones and GPS. The Justice reform bill, passed by the senate last month, covers a wide range of topics and giving police the right to spy on crime suspects is one of the provisions.
Government Justified The Bill
The justice reform bill was severely criticized by both the left and advocacy groups in France calling it authoritarian and against the privacy rights of the citizens. The French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti insisted the bill didn’t go against fundamental rights of ordinary citizens as it’ll cover a few cases. Government members of the parliament said the bill wouldn’t cover “ sensitive professions” including doctors, lawyers, journalists, judges etc.
Law Will Lessen Terrorist Threat
After the series of terrorist attacks that shocked France in 2015, the country has increased the surveillance powers of law enforcement agencies to eradicate the terrorist threat. The government MPs justified the justice reform bill saying it would decrease the terrorist threat to the French citizens.
