Fucking pigs playing persecuters. ACAB
Looks like there are caveats to this law:
You would need to be a suspect in a crime that has a punishment of 5 or more years in prison in order for the phone to be geolocated.
For video/audio you need to fall under the definition of organised crime or terrorism.
BUT… If you are an environmental activist, someone might consider you a type of terrorist. So, this is pretty big news. Plus, there are loads of crimes that have 5 year sentences.
French sauce: https://www.lcp.fr/actualites/justice-l-assemblee-autorise-l-activation-a-distance-des-telephones-portables-pour
The English language article includes the wording delinquency. You’d say this is a false description, based on the French article?
The quote in the French article uses the term les grands délinquants. And in French it is just a synonym of criminal or someone who repeatedly breaks the law. So, not a false description.
In France there are plenty of offences that can net you a maximum 5 year term, so this law will not go unused.
And for those not in the know, France is civil law, not common law: the whole jury thing with lawyers making statements isn’t a thing here. Meaning that a judge’s interpretation of the law determines punishment.
So what this probably means in practice is that this power is assured to be abused to target activists and civil disobedience.
As is tradition, whenever a repression institution is created, it’ll be used almost exclusively on the left with a few token Nazis thrown in if they get a little too terroristic for the current tastes of the powers that be.
