Government surveillance is a big topic on both sides of the Atlantic.Here in the U.S., it was recently limited by Congress.In France, Parliament is expanding the government surveillance powers.A bill that easily passed the Lower House is expected to be approved by the French Senate today.NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports.Prime Minister Manuel Valls introduced the surveillance bill in the wake of January's deadly terrorist attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.But the prime minister reminded lawmakers the bill had already been in the works to monitor French citizens traveling to and from Syria.This law is not a hasty response to an emergency.It's the result of a long and well-thought-out process.It will help protect our citizens from terrorism and guarantee public liberties by setting clear rules.There will be no more gray zones.France has been engaged in vast surveillance since attacks in the 1980s by radical Algerian groups, says Sylvie Kauffmann, editorial director of Le Monde.France was one of the first Western democracies to take very active anti-terrorism measures.But strangely enough, there was no law on intelligence services.The new law will permit police to hide microphones in suspects' cars and houses and place antennas to monitor cell phone calls.But the most contentious point is the collection of raw data or metadata on regular citizens using black boxes attached to Internet servers.
