Orange shares all its call data with France's intelligence agency, according to new Snowden leak

[MADem]

1. Some French official said, some time ago, that the only thing that was surprising is that anyone was

"shocked" by this sort of thing.

And we're all aware of this, which isn't breaking news by any stretch...this is from NOV 2 of last year:

The news was revealed as part of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s latest leaks and was reported by The Guardian. According to the report, Germany, France, Spain, and Sweden have been engaging in mass wiretapping of Internet communications and telephone calls over the past five years and have been passing that information to the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

According to the report, the countries have created a “loose but growing eavesdropping alliance,” and that the information is retrieved through “direct taps into fiber optic cables and the development of covert relationships with telecommunications companies.”

The timing of the leaks are particularly comical: Last week, after news that the NSA spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone, the Chancellor said in a statement that she “views such practices … as completely unacceptable,” adding that she deserved “an immediate and comprehensive explanation” from the U.S. government. Spanish and French leaders have also expressed concern about NSA spying, but recent reports suggest that those governments were complicit in the surveillance.

We already knew the French were getting all the data, and sharing it too--does it really matter in the big scheme of things how they get it?

I don't think this will produce the gasps and shouts of "Quelle horreur!" that might be anticipated. It's old news in a new suit of clothes.