The French leadership under Emmanuel Macron used the recent riots to usher in new policies of mass government surveillance. News headlines in France have said that every phone in the country can now be used as a spying device by police. But this actually goes further—the measures include computers and other devices as well.
France is now grappling with difficult laws to regulate difficult powers. But in reality, what it’s facing is a question that most of the world may soon have to face: the surveillance systems already exist. They exist wherever these devices exist. The data is already being collected. This holds true just as much in France as it does all through Europe, and all throughout the United States. It’s mainly held by private businesses right now. It’s sold to advertisers and big data networks. But that could change ……