Ever worried about someone else other than you having the authority to activate your phone features for surveillance? Well, the people in France are about to know exactly how it is like.
French lawmakers have signed a justice reform bill that now allows the police to spy on suspects remotely by activating cameras, microphones, and GPS on various devices.
The bill includes devices such as phones, laptops, and even cars, which will only apply to suspects with crimes that are punishable by a minimum of five years in jail.
French Parliament Widens Police Powers
This is not the first time that the parliament has made an effort to expand what the country's police can and cannot do.
In 2021, the parliament passed a security bill that allowed the usage of drones in monitoring citizens in public.
The security bill came as a result of increasing police brutality and racism in France.
The French government also toughened the sentence for violent protestors and people guilty of assaulting police officers.
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Civil Groups Alarmed Againts new French Bill
French advocacy group La Quadrature du Net warns about the dangers of the new bill.
"For organized crime, the police can have access to the sound and image of a device. This concerns any connected device: telephone, speaker microphone, computer camera, computer system of a car... all without the knowledge of the persons concerned," the group tweeted.
Despite the public criticism, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti claimed that the new provision would "only affect a few dozen cases per year."
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