AMERICA, IT SEEMS, has decided to scale back the 'Surveillance State'. A few weeks ago Congress overwhelmingly decided to reform the National Security Agency's (NSA's) data collection programme. And a federal appeals court found in the same month that much of the work of the Agency - the electronic eavesdropping arm of the US government - was illegal. A complex, open political battle is taking place in Congress about further restrictions on electronic eavesdropping, which President Obama wanted as long as a year ago to assuage concerns about mass electronic surveillance of the public. However, some European countries appear to be heading in the other direction. France had its equivalent of 9/11 in January, with the shocking killings of journalists and cartoonists by Islamic terrorists at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. A new law has just passed almost unanimously, allowing the French intelligence agencies to tap the phones and monitor billions of emails without judicial oversight.
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