New BREAKING scandal: French spy agency caught spying on phone calls, emails, web use

[Cali_Democrat]

French agency spies on phone calls, email, web use, paper says

PARIS (Reuters) - France's external intelligence agency spies on the French public's phone calls, emails and social media activity in France and abroad, the daily Le Monde said on Thursday.

It said the DGSE intercepted signals from computers and telephones in France, and between France and other countries, although not the content of phone calls, to create a map of "who is talking to whom". It said the activity was illegal.

"All of our communications are spied on," wrote Le Monde, which based its report on unnamed intelligence sources as well as remarks made publicly by intelligence officials.

"Emails, text messages, telephone records, access to Facebook and Twitter are then stored for years," it said.

Read more: http://in.news.yahoo.com/french-agency-spies-phone-calls-email-paper-says-154203093.html

Article is interesting. The agency says they did it in accordance with the law. Le Monde says it was illegal.

Anyone here familiar with French law?

[Recursion]

1. No doubt the US told them to do that, too... (nt)

[BenzoDia]

8. Indeed. It's Obama's fault!

[HipChick]

2. This can't be...you mean other countries spy too?

I thought the Big Brother concept was US centric...ALL countries that are capable are using this technology..up next for disclosure I'm taking bets on Germany...hell they are prob sharing Databases

[BenzoDia]

11. Germany's BND collects foreign communications that pass through their borders.

However, people act like it's tightly regulated but ignore the fact that they've been busts snooping on journalists twice in the last decade.

[Cali_Democrat]

16. Yep.

No doubt Germany does the EXACT same thing.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

3. Right. This goes to the point that no government should be trusted. They should be overseen.

[Cali_Democrat]

4. Every government should be overseen? By whom?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

5. Of course every government should be overseen, by their citizens.

That's your Mulligan for today.

[Cali_Democrat]

6. I agree.

That's why we have elections and 3 branches of govt.

But some information is deemed classified and there's debate about whether or not it should be.

[MineralMan]

7. Of course. That's why our society, for example,

holds elections on a regularly-scheduled basis. Checks and balances.

GOTV 2014!

[sigmasix]

14. my guess is the folks that call everyone else "sheeple"

it's all Obama's fault! after all haven't many DU posters made it clear that the President is an evil traitor and secretly spys on every american all the time?
The crowd that calls those that disagree with them "sheeple" are the only ones we can trust! they have all the truth about the matrix and the two little pills. Anyone that isnt setting their hair on fire and crying over the stupidity of all those "sheeple" that disagree with them shouldn't be trusted.
Isn't this the meme being repeated by DU members and right wing media?
You're nearly a laugh, but you're really a cry.

[randome]

35. Pink Floyd!

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[Skittles]

22. BY WE THE PEOPLE

[Igel]

23. But ... but

In a democracy, the government is "we the people."

That means we the people are spying on we the people.

Should we the people supervise we the people as we spy on we the people? Perhaps we the people can summarize their findings from spying on we the people for the benefit of we the people.


Or have reps do the work for us. Obama's one of we the people. So's Snowden. Heck, so's Rove and *.

That's no good. Nope, gotta be all or nothing.

[treestar]

24. How?

By what means?

[Skittles]

27. one way is to not make BULLSHIT EXCUSES

[treestar]

28. That is not description of a method for how the PEOPLE will oversee

surveillance.

[Skittles]

29. LOL WHY WOULD YOU CARE???

you think everything is just A-OK

[treestar]

30. You still have not proposed a method by which WE THE PEOPLE

will oversee the surveillance. It's a nice slogan to say we the people should over see it, but if not backed up with a real proposal for how to do it, it is as empty as the rest of the slogans. If I think all is fine, and you think all is not fine, then you are the one who should tell us how another alternative is better and will work.

[Skittles]

31. ELECTING REAL DEMOCRATS

instead of "STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE", supporting the ACLU, and...... but you know what - discussing this with you is like talking to a chair - POINTLESS -

[treestar]

32. What will those real Democrats propose as an alternative that will acceptably mean

we the people are overseeing surveillance?

You're the chair as you have no answer to that and keep deflecting.

[Number23]

37. You mean you weren't immediately convinced by the random and superfluous capitalization?

[treestar]

38. Hehe. I think I was SUPPOSED TO BE and realize THIS MEANS I'M SERIOUS!

[Amonester]

9. DUH!

("Told u so!&quot

Who's next?


("ALL&quot ?


Bonjour, Agent Michel !

Va te faire f...

[matt819]

10. Oh sure, that's your excuse, everyone's doing it?

So if America jumped off a bridge, would France jump off a bridge too?

[Cali_Democrat]

13. My excuse?

I didn't excuse the spying referenced in the article. I don't know much about French law and I was wondering if someone here did.

Thanks for your contribution.

[randome]

36. It would have to be one mother-fucking big bridge!!!

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Every means of communication that has ever existed

over the millennia, has been open to or has been actually intercepted. Whether it be a human/animal messenger who travels between clans/kingdoms/empires, or an email that zaps along a wire/satellite. This is why messages were often encrypted, going back to ancient times. Even indigenous peoples who remain isolated from modern societies, often send out "scouts" to determine whether any threats exist, and they will bring back info on what they find.

Is it right when it is done to us? No. But it is not something that just started this past week nor is it going away anytime soon... otherwise it would have been abolished tens of thousands of years ago. Anyone familiar with what is dubbed "Pig Latin" and one of the purposes of it, would make the connection of how societies find ways of getting around this "spying" phenomena.

[MineralMan]

15. Quelle Surprise!

Zut alors!

[WinkyDink]

17. Mais non!

[UTUSN]

18. Naw!1 It is just too inconceivable that this could be done to sweet, innocent people!1 The horror!1

[dickthegrouch]

19. To answer the original question....

Doesn't French law presume guilt until proven innocent? How could collection of data to support that presumption possibly be illegal?



Added on edit:
US law on the other hand:
A) Has a protection against unreasonable search and seizure
B) Presumes innocence until proven guilty

I can't wait for someone to try to use the treasure trove of NSA data to prove their innocence, or for some overreaching prosecutor to try to use some of it to prove guilt, and to have the whole trove tossed because it was collected without warrant (see (A) above).

I have no problem with them collecting data AFTER a specific warrant has been issued, as used to happen before all of our rights were pissed away (by both sides).

[Cooley Hurd]

20. It's morally wrong there as it is here.

EarlG's Pic of the moment says it best:



http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017129410

[Maximumnegro]

21. Thanks Obama >: ( nt

[Zorra]

25. Awesome. Another positive consequence of Snowden's actions.

Hopefully, this will inspire the French people to root the neoliberal authoritarians out of their government.

[bunnies]

26. Who's next? England?

Germany? Everybody just might as well come out with it all at once.

[Scurrilous]

33. Time to send back the Statue Of Liberty!!1!

[BenzoDia]

34. Yeah, but the NSA will probably but a bug in it first.

[Heywood J]

39. What would the plaque say?

"Give me your papers, your emails,
Your phone calls yearning to be recorded,
Your wretched metadata to my teeming datacenter.
Send these, the emails, intercepted to me,
I install my surveillance camera beside the golden door!"