Spying programs like Predator help investigative authorities catch serious criminals and terrorists. But the same surveillance tools also spy on innocent people every day, says Sophie in’t Veld, 60, a member of the European Parliament with a civil liberties-oriented party. No mobile phone data is safe any longer, she says, adding that “real hotspots” have emerged all over Europe for the surveillance industry – places that “support it with a reliable financial system and tax breaks.” The Netherlands, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Bulgaria and “many other member states help spy on people around the world,” says in’t Veld. “We have a real European problem here.”
But who’s behind it?