French MPs mull new spy laws in wake of attacks

More than three months after Islamist attacks in Paris that killed 17, French MPs on Monday began debating controversial new laws allowing spies to hoover up data from suspected jihadists.

The draft laws have sparked a firestorm of protest from rights groups, which charge they infringe on individuals' privacy.

But Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that to compare the draft legislation to the "Patriot Act" mass surveillance introduced in the United States after the 9/11 attacks was a "lie."

Valls himself presented the legislation in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament -- a sign of the importance the government attaches to the bill.

"It is high time that France had a legal framework similar to that which exists in most Western countries," said Valls.

He alluded to last week's hack of TV5Monde, when self-proclaimed cyberjihadists claiming links to the Islamic State group shut down the station and took over their social networks.

This attack "didn't kill anyone but it did intend to hurt us," said Valls.

"Freedom of information, of expression, of opinion -- and therefore democracy -- have been attacked ... it's a global threat we have to face up to," the prime minister stressed.

- 'Patriot Act' -
The text enjoys support from both main parties and is therefore certain to be adopted when deputies vote on May 5.

The new law allows authorities to spy on the digital and mobile communications of anyone linked to a "terrorist" enquiry without prior authorisation from a judge, and forces Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and phone companies to give up data upon request.

Intelligence services will have the right to place cameras and recording devices in private dwellings and install "keylogger" devices that record every key stroke on a targeted computer.

The authorities will be able to keep recordings for a month, and metadata for five years.

The MP who drafted the law, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, noted that France is the "only Western democracy" without a precisely defined legal framework for its surveillance operations.

This means French intelligence agents are operating in a legal "grey zone," opening them up to legal challenges, said Urvoas.

A poll published on Sunday showed that nearly two-thirds of French people were in favour of restricting freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism.

Only 32 percent of those surveyed in the CSA poll for Atlantico said they were opposed to freedoms being reduced, although this proportion rose significantly among young people.

However, the national digital council, an independent advisory body, has come out against the proposed legislation.

The group said it was akin to "mass surveillance" which has "been shown to be extremely inefficient in the United States."

It also said it was "unsuited to the challenges of countering terrorist recruitment" and "does not provide sufficient guarantees in terms of freedoms."

Several dozen people marched outside the parliament building to denounce the law as deputies inside debated it.

However, Valls hit back, saying: "Criticism that suggests we are creating a French 'Patriot Act' or a hint of a police state is a complete lie and irresponsible."