The mood is shifting in the debate between privacy and security as France prepares to enact a controversial terrorism surveillance law critics have nicknamed the “French Patriot Act.”
In the wake of the revelations about the NSA’s activities and CIA operations conducted in Europe, EU countries have been quite vocal in condemning U.S. Government’s practices, despite indications that the same type of surveillance may already be taking place back home. In April 2014, the decision of the European Court of Justice to annul directive 2006/24/EC (joined Cases C-293/12 and C-594/12), long criticized for interfering with fundamental rights and the respect for private life, seemed to indicate that online freedom and privacy were finally gaining ground – until last week, when France took a long stride the opposite way.
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