French Court Rules in Favour of Controversial Surveillance Law

The constitutional court of France, le Conseil constitutionnel, has upheld the surveillance law enacted after the terrorist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The new legislation strengthens government powers to monitor suspected terrorist activity.

Officials will no longer require a court order before conducting electronic surveillance, instead needing permission from a special administrative body. It will also be easier for government to use wiretaps to expose would-be terrorists, with the obligation to obtain authorisation from a judge now abrogated.

Telecommunication carriers and internet service providers are also required to install black boxes on their networks to aid the government in collecting data and identify suspect online behavioural patterns based on keywords used and and sites visited.

Thanks to the court’s decision nothing now stands in the way of the law coming into force.

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