[P2P-F] Fwd: [opennetcoalition] Mass Surveillance: French Spooks and Telcos Hand in Hand

Wed Mar 26 04:17:49 CET 2014

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <contact at laquadrature.net>
Date: Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 12:11 PM
Subject: [opennetcoalition] Mass Surveillance: French Spooks and Telcos
Hand in Hand
To: opennetcoalition at laquadrature.net

Themes: SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY, ORANGE, FRENCH INTELLIGENCE SERVICES,
LUSTRE, EDWARD SNOWDEN, SAFE HARBOR

La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/mass-surveillance-french-spooks-and-telcos-hand-in-hand

Mass Surveillance: French Spooks and Telcos Hand in Hand

*** Paris, 24 March 2014 -- Since May 2013, consecutive revelations have
increasingly exposed the extent and severity of the extralegal surveillance
activities conducted by French authorities. It is time for the French
government to break its deafening silence on this issue and allow for an
open and democratic debate on the extent of its surveillance practices.
This is all the more important following the "Loi de programmation
militaire" [1] and these recent revelations [2] regarding the cooperation
of network operator Orange with French intelligence services. France must
make it a priority to revise its current legislation in order to respect
international law on privacy. ***

In the 21 March article "Espionnage : comment Orange et les services
secrets coopèrent" (Espionage: How Orange and the secret services
cooperate), the French newspaper Le Monde sheds more light on the Internet
surveillance practices of French authorities exposed by documents leaked by
whistleblower Edward Snowden. The article [3] details the collaboration
between Orange and the French external intelligence service (DGSE), which
was granted "unobstructed and complete access to its network and the data
passing through it" outside any legal framework and without court
oversight. This follows previous revelations of the massive data transfer
between the French intelligence services and the US American National
Security Agency (NSA), codenamed Lustre [4], and of the collaboration of
Alcatel-Lucent, Amesys and other companies in putting in place an
international system of data collection [5] directly from the Internet
backbone.

The feebleness of reactions by French politicians to these revelations
reflects their astonishing hypocrisy. President François Hollande's
political overtures have been empty, demanding unsuccessfully a US-EU
no-spy agreement to limit eaves-dropping on political leaders and
supporting Angela Merkle's call for a "European Internet". In the same
time, Hollande refused to advocate for measures that would be effective in
protecting the personal data of European citizens, such as the suspension
of the EU-US Safe Harbor [6] agreement proposed by the European Parliament
[7].

The government's political spin [8] advertising its actions on digital
matters should not fool anyone: The proposed bill on "digital freedoms"
announced [9] a year ago, is likely to be mostly repressive in nature (the
word "freedom" seems to have been dropped from the bill's title), while
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is promoting harmful policies on e-mail
encryption [10]. What is more, French political leaders have granted
themselves unprecedented surveillance powers via the scandalous "Loi de
programmation militaire" [1] and refused to participate in the European
Parliament Inquiry into the Snowden revelations [11].

"For months now, revelations have been met with the deafening silence of
the French administration, which is trying to escape any debate on Internet
mass surveillance. In view of the mounting evidence that surveillance has
gone out of control, the government must face public scrutiny. The moment
has come for all institutional actors - be it François Hollande, the
government, the parliament, the judiciary or even the data protection
authority - to finally face their duties to put an end to these serious
breaches of fundamental rights and hold their perpetrators accountable",
declared Felix Tréguer, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net.

"Beyond the necessary debate on Internet surveillance and the sovereignty
of our infrastructure, only through the use of free and open software,
end-to-end encryption and decentralised services will it be possible to
regain control over our communications. France must also reform current
legal provisions on surveillance to conform to international law [12] and
establish adequate oversight of intelligence services", concluded Benjamin
Sonntag, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net.

* References *

1.
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/final-adoption-of-generalised-surveillance-in-france-a-disturbing-political-drift

2.
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/rt-snowden-leak-shows-french-telecom-giant-colluding-with-spooks

3.
http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2014/03/20/dgse-orange-des-liaisons-incestueuses_4386264_3210.html

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustre_%28treaty%29

5.
http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2013/10/21/france-in-the-nsa-s-crosshair-wanadoo-and-alcatel-targeted_3499739_651865.html

6.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Safe_Harbor_Privacy_Principles

7.
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/european-commission-must-listen-to-parliaments-call-to-act-against-surveillance-programmes

8.
http://www.pcinpact.com/news/86409-l-executif-prepare-offensive-communicationnelle-sur-numerique.htm[fr]

9.
http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/tech-medias/actu/0203381114149-les-premieres-pistes-de-la-loi-numerique-658053.php[fr]

10.
http://www.numerama.com/magazine/28502-les-e-mails-de-france-seront-chiffres-et-stockes-en-france.html[fr]

11. The report by the Committee Inquiry, adopted 12 March, indicates that
"the British and French Parliament have declined participation" and lists
both director generals of Internal and of External Security (DGSE and DGRI)
as having declined to participate:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A7-2014-0139+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN#title5

12. https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/text

** About La Quadrature du Net **

La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that defends the rights and
freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for
the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding
principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge.

In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better
understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and
pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage
citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the
digital age.

La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international
NGOs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society
Institute and Privacy International.

List of supporting organisations:
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-la-quadrature-du-net

** Press contact and press room **

contact at laquadrature.net, +33 (0) 972 294 426

https://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room

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-- 
*Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no
record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..*

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