FRENCH spies could be free to bug and track anybody they feel like observing inside the country under a Bill which was debated in parliament yesterday.

Although web hosting companies, which could be required to monitor their clients, have raised concerns and civil liberties advocates have warned that the Bill lacks adequate privacy protections, their objections have been dismissed by the government.

More than three months after 17 people were killed in attacks by three Islamist gunmen in Paris, the government is seeking measures that will allow spy agencies to tap phones and emails at will, without seeking permission from a judge.

Surveillance staff will also be able to bug suspects’ homes with microphones and cameras and add “keyloggers” to their computers to track every keystroke.

But the government insists that the measures are proportionate and appropriate.

“The measures proposed are not aimed at installing generalised surveillance,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve claimed to the Liberation newspaper at the weekend.

“On the contrary, it aims to target people who we need to monitor to protect the French people,” he said.

France already admits to monitoring an estimated 1,200 Islamists and about 200 people who have returned from fighting with militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

The government has earmarked about €425 million (£306m) to recruit thousands of extra police, spies and investigators to beef up surveillance and boost national security and intelligence.

The Bill has prompted web providers to threatened to leave the country because it would allow spies to place “black boxes” on their infrastructure and snoop on communications.

The companies would be forced to set up systems to monitor metadata under the legislation.

If the activity of specific internet users looks suspicious, the government could then demand access to their personal information.

French web hosts say such monitoring would scare customers into leaving to protect their private information.

“The draft Bill destroys freedoms, but it is also anti-economic and essentially inefficient for the objective it sets out,” seven internet firms warned recently.

Deputies are expected to approve the Bill on May 5.

By Our Foreign Office