Counter-terror law

France Passes New Surveillance Law, Allows Metadata Collection To Counter Terror Threat

France on Thursday approved a new law that granted state intelligence services more powers to monitor public communications to counter what authorities called an unprecedented terror threat.

French President Francois Hollande was among the lawmakers who had asked the country's constitutional council to rule on the law, which weakens restrictions on phone taps, hidden microphones and cameras, and allows authorities to force Internet service providers to monitor suspicious activity, Reuters reported.