In France, the number of people monitored with technical tools increased by 3% in 2021, according to the National Commission for the Control of Intelligence Techniques (CNCTR). In total, 22,958 people are under the radar of the intelligence services.
Nearly 23,000 people are observed by the French internal and external intelligence services. Some are wiretapped, others are filmed. A technique is also increasingly used: real-time geolocation. It allows agents to avoid physical tailings. In detail, we do not know who these people are, but we know why they are being watched.
Surveillance to prevent terrorist acts has represented nearly one in two requests from the intelligence services since 2015 and the attacks of November 13. There are also surveillance requests that concern the defense of France’s geostrategic interests. Concretely, we are talking here about fighting against the interference and influence of certain foreign states.
The third and fourth grounds concern the prevention of crime and organized delinquency and the prevention of violence by political groups, whether of the far right or the far left.
In five years, the control commission has received a quarter of additional requests. At the same time, the number of people under surveillance increases by only 7%. This distortion can be explained quite simply: the intelligence services use several techniques on the same target, especially for people suspected of preparing terrorist attacks.
► Also to listen : AI and satellite imagery, an area of excellence for French intelligence