Mass surveillance in France

Mass surveillance in France has existed over centuries. ^[1]

History

As part of the 2010s global surveillance disclosures, Le Monde found that the DGSE intercepted signals on the French public. ^[2]

Following the Charlie Hebdo shooting, France passed the Intelligence Act. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, France again expanded surveillance powers. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

France's practices gained increased scrutiny around the 2024 Summer Olympics ^{[12] [13] [14] [15] [16]} including over the effectiveness of such practices. ^{[17] [18]} The usage at the olympics made France the first EU country to legalize Al video surveillance which Amnesty International described as undermining EU efforts to regulate AI including through the AI Act. ^{[19] [20]} Concerns were also raised that the Olympics were being used as a pretext to get the foot-in-the-door. ^[21]

See also

• Frenchelon
• Global surveillance § France

References

1. Kayali, Laura (24 July 2023). "From Napoléon to Macron: How France learned to love Big Brother". Politico Europe .
2. Chrisafis, Angelique (4 July 2013). "France 'runs vast electronic spying operation using NSA-style methods'". The Guardian .
3. Boring, Nicolas (10 July 2015). "France: Parliament Adopts New Surveillance Legislation". The Library of Congress .
4. "France: New surveillance law a major blow to human rights". Amnesty International . 24 July 2015.
5. Willsher, Kim (24 July 2015). "France approves 'Big Brother' surveillance powers despite UN concern". The Guardian .
6. Bounab, Youcef (18 July 2023). "Lawmakers approve bill allowing French police to locate suspects by tapping their devices". AP News .
7. Brunet, Romain (10 November 2025). "How the 2015 Paris attacks increased police powers and eroded civil liberties". France 24 .
8. Lubin, Asaf (9 January 2017). "A New Era of Mass Surveillance is Emerging Across Europe". Just Security .
9. "France: New surveillance law a major blow to human rights". Amnesty International . 24 July 2015.
10. Goury-Laffont, Victor (12 November 2025). "Paris attacks: 10 years on, politics in France still shows scars". POLITICO Europe .
11. Sales, Nathan (31 July 2015). "French Surveillance Law Compared to US Surveillance Law". Just Security .
12. McKenna, Anne Toomey (17 July 2024). "AI mass surveillance at Paris Olympics – a legal scholar on the security boon and privacy nightmare". The Conversation (website) .
13. Kayali, Laura (8 March 2023). "French surveillance system for Olympics moves forward, despite civil rights campaign". POLITICO Europe .
14. Laanstra-Corn, Amarins; Sewell, Tia (9 August 2024). "Algorithmic Surveillance Takes the Stage at the Paris Olympics". Lawfare (website) .
15. Claburn, Thomas (24 March 2023). "French parliament says oui to AI surveillance for 2024 Paris Olympics". The Register .
16. Kayali, Laura (17 May 2023). "Top French court backs AI-powered surveillance cameras for Paris Olympics". POLITICO Europe .
17. Leloup, Damien (10 March 2023). "France plans to use AI surveillance during Olympics, but it has never proven its worth". Le Monde .
18. Reynaud, Florian; Untersinger, Martin (24 July 2024). "Paris 2024: Controversial AI-led video surveillance put to the test during Olympics". Le Monde . Archived from the original on 11 January 2025.
19. "France: Allowing mass surveillance at Olympics undermines EU efforts to regulate AI". Amnesty International . 23 March 2023.
20. "'All-out assault on privacy': France is first EU country to legalise AI-driven surveillance". The Brussels Times . 29 March 2023.
21. "Let's beware of a post-Olympic drift in the use of AI-powered video surveillance". Le Monde . 26 September 2024.