The National Assembly in France adopted article 3 of the Justice bill which authorizes the authorities to remotely activate the cameras and microphones of telephones or other connected devices without the knowledge of the persons concerned.
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) July 5, 2023
80 votes for, 24 against ⚠️⚠️⚠️ pic.twitter.com/s5mG7ounIz
We have somewhat the same spying capability short of the remotea acces but no judge is involved.Quote:
A bill just passed that will allow the government to secretly turn on your phone's camera and microphone without your knowledge.
As of now, the power to do this legally will be restricted by the need for a judge's assent, but if you think that this limitation will be respected and that it never will change, I have news for you: your privacy is gone.
The tool was used more than 278,000 times, including against crime victims, January 6 riot suspects, people arrested at protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, and — in one case — 19,000 donors to a congressional candidate.https://t.co/jd0dikVvHr
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 19, 2023
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The list of abuses the FBI has engaged in over the past few years is impressive. Illegal searches, lying to the FISA court, opening an investigation into a presidential candidate/president based upon no evidence, intimidation of activists….
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Books will be written about the corruption of the intelligence apparat in the United States in the past decade or two, and the US has more legal protections for citizens than most countries. But the abuses of power go unpunished, and when they do they multiply.
Now France is openly sanctioning turning your expensive cell phone into a snitch, and you can bet that governments around the world have been doing this for a long time without anybody knowing.
Burner phones anybody?Quote:
In France, the Senate just approved a controversial provision to a justice bill that would allow law enforcement to secretly activate cameras and microphones on a suspect's devices.
This type of surveillance would be activated without notifying the owner of the device. The same provision would also allow agencies easier access to geolocation data to track suspected criminals.
Even though officials say they would only use the new update to the so-called "Keeper of the Seals" justice bill to capture sound and images of suspects of certain crimes such as delinquency, organized crime, and terrorism, the critics say this would still be disproportionate.
And it's not only politicians widespread concern has engulfed civil rights advocates and organizations, too. For instance, the Observatory of Digital Freedoms has denounced such a "security overkill" it says any subject would risk being turned into a potential snitch.
Via Hot Air
