The French parliament has approved a landmark intelligence-gathering law that gives the nation sweeping powers to spy on its citizens, the Clarion Project website reports today (May 7, 2015).
The government says the new law -- which was sparked by the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris in January -- is aimed at preventing Islamic terrorism.
But civil rights groups say the law -- which has been nicknamed "the French Patriot Act" -- is so vague and intrusive and centralizes surveillance power to such an excessive extent, that it poses an unacceptable threat to civil liberties in France.
The fact is that the law goes far beyond the prevention of terrorism and includes vague language that critics say is confusing and opens the door to future abuse. For example, the law states that surveillance is allowed if it supports "major foreign policy interests," promotes "industrial and scientific interests," and/or prevents "attacks on the Republican form of [government] institutions."
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