Why hasn’t the latest French public outrage over NSA spying been shared by the French government? In this interview with France’s Le Nouvel Observateur, foreign affairs adviser to the French government Philippe Moreau Defarges says that France has bigger problems to deal with than U.S. surveillance, which after all, Defarges says, even family members engage in.
Céline Lussato of Le Nouvel Observateur starts off the interview with Philippe Moreau Defarges this way:
Le Nouvel Observateur: Why was there such a timid reaction from Paris after revelations of massive American espionage in France?
Philippe Moreau Defarges: One might find the French reaction to be timid, but it isn’t all that surprising. This form of practical espionage is altogether common on the part of a great power like the United States. Particularly in the case of a very worried power … which seeks to protect itself by all means possible.
The practice of eavesdropping is not very respectable, but it is so common as to provoke no particular reaction. And the second reason – this affair isn’t that important … It may be somewhat upsetting for the French, but that isn’t very important at a time when Europe is in a very difficult position, and the United States is tending to move away from Europe. This is not a priority issue.
Le Nouvel Observateur: Is France benefiting, too, perhaps, from this bugging? Is there a tradition of collaboration in terms of information between Paris and Washington?
Philippe Moreau Defarges: I have absolutely no idea whether or not France benefits from this monitoring. As for collaboration in terms of information, one must distinguish between countries that are very close to the United States, such as the United Kingdom, Israel, and Germany, from those that are somewhat less close. France is not part of the first circle, and Paris has always asserted its sovereignty vis-à- vis the United States, which is invariably a little uncertain of the French and their unpredictability.
The question is why the architecture of systems have been designed in such a way that this can happen. Why don’t the government and companies choose a system in which eavesdropping is prevented? Or systems in which overcoming security is so difficult that it would only happen when absolutely necessary? Solutions are known. Information must be encrypted. Only the sender and receiver therefore have the keys to decrypt the data. Third parties, including the cloud administrator, have no access. As long as sender and receiver abide by the rules, this is how to keep the intelligence services out.
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