America's NSA scandal has been making headlines all over the world since it first came to light back in July. Somehow, though, France's surveillance program has managed to fly under the radar for the most part.
Frederic Jacobs (cc by 2.0)
Just a few days after the news of the NSA scandal broke, French newspaper Le Monde revealed that France had a similar program which routinely swept up “nearly all … data transmissions, including telephone calls, e-mails and social media activity that come in and out of France.” According to a recent report that was leaked by Edward Snowden and obtained by the UK's Guardian newspaper, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden all have the ability to tap into fibre optic cables - meaning that it's relatively easy for them to spy on phone and Internet activities.
