France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone, spy on people. The bill allows the geolocation of crime suspects, covering laptops, cars and other connected devices.
France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone, spy on people. The bill allows the geolocation of crime suspects, covering laptops, cars and other connected devices.
A bill that would allow police in France to spy on suspects by remotely activating cameras, microphone including GPS of their phones has been passed.
If only the French people could do something in response 🤔
11If it passed in France, how long until the U.S. needs to "get hard on" crime?
10At least the French will riot over that kind of shit.
11Not just riot, they will ensure heads roll.
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You say that like it hasn't been happening already for two decades.
https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/fbi-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/
I can't read French so I only have others' translations and intepretations to rely on, but from what I understand, the differences here are that,
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France lawmakers are being direct with their legislation, rather than relying on precedence or judges' interpretations of anti-terrorism or national security bills; and
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Privileged conversations (e.g. between client and attorney) can still be admissible when recorded surreptitiously this way.
Apparently it would still need to be pre-approved by a judge. That doesn't inspire much confidence in it not being hand-wave allowed, though.
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The FBI has been doing this for over a decade. Article from 2013:
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the members of parliament in the camp of President Emmanuel Macron inserted an amendment limiting the use of remote spying to “when justified by the nature and seriousness of the crime” and “for a strictly proportional duration.” They noted that a judge must approve any use of the provision, while the total duration of the surveillance cannot exceed six months.
Oh okay, required judge approval, time limits and serious crimes only is something at least...
They said sensitive professions, including doctors, journalists, lawyers, judges and MPs, would not be legitimate targets.
Ah, yes. So none of the ruling class then have to be concerned then, their positions will always be deemed somehow "too sensitive" for the provision to apply.
Another helpful tool in white collar crime for those with existing resources, and blue collar criminals can continue to be made an example of to convince everyone that the justice system is functioning well. I hope this article is just overstating the actual issues for fearmongering, for the French people's sake.
10Time for the French to dust off their guillotines
8They've been dusted for a while now, we're just taking our time with the sharpening of the blade. We don't want to make the same mistake again, having to drop it twice or thrice on someone. It's inhumane and all, you know?
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The question isn't whether they would do this or not. Every government would allow this, either legally or not. And lots do already.
My question is on the how. Specifically things like remote activating cameras and microphones. Location data can be gotten by ISP and wireless carriers. But how would they activate features on the phone or laptop? It would have to be malware right? That's what people should be worried about and should be explicitly blocked in the law.
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