France Plans to Build a Great Firewall of Its Own, Second Only to China’s

Leaked documents from the Ministry of Interior indicates the French government may be considering pieces of legislation that would shut down public Wi-Fi in the event of an emergency, and establish systems to block the use of Tor within the country’s borders. These documents were seen and reported on by the French newspaper Le Monde, which reported that this legislation could be introduced as early as January 2016. So much for liberté, égalité, fraternité.

It’s fair to presume this action is in response to the Paris terrorist attacks last month. However, evidence indicates the Paris attacks were coordinated using unencrypted SMS.

The first measure, shutting down public Wi-Fi, would be difficult to implement — effectively giving the government a nationwide kill switch, and leaving those who rely on free public hotspots without access. From a police perspective, however, it’s difficult to pinpoint people who use public Wi-Fi hotspots so this action would make it easier to track activity.

Brad Templeton of Singularity University: Today’s surveillance state transcends George Orwell.