France’s government has passed a measure that allows police to remotely activate the phone cameras, microphones, and geolocation of criminal suspects without their knowledge, on the heels of ongoing protests in the country.
Under the “justice reform bill,” police will be able to activate the phones, laptops, cars, and other connected electronics of criminal suspects, French media outlet Le Monde reported on July 6.
The bill also enables the police to record sound and capture images of people suspected of committing terrorism-related offenses, organized crime, and delinquency, according to the report.
The legislation will apply only to suspects in crimes that carry at least a five-year prison sentence; Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti anticipates the new law will affect only “dozens of cases a year.”
The use of the provision will require judicial approval and is limited to a maximum duration of six months. The report also states that “sensitive professions” such as doctors, journalists, lawyers, judges, and members of parliament are excluded from the provision.
French advocacy group La Quadrature du Net had previously raised concerns about the potential infringement of the fundamental “right to security, privacy,” and “the right to come and go freely.”
“At a time when police violence is only increasing, when political movements are being muzzled by surveillance and massive searches, parliamentarians are about to authorize the transformation of all connected objects into police snitches,” the group wrote on Twitter.
“We repeat: if this [bill] were adopted, it would radically change the paradigm of police espionage, by transforming all our computer tools into a gateway to monitoring us.”
The new authority comes about amid widespread protests across the country that were triggered by the police shooting of a 17-year-old teen known as Nahel M. during a traffic stop in Nanterre, France, just outside Paris, on June 27.
Thousands of protesters have been arrested in recent weeks.
