28, Mar 2018 | CJP Team

Voters in the Netherlands last week narrowly voted against a law that would empower spy organisations to engage in mass tapping of Internet traffic, Reuters reported. The law would permit agencies to set up wire taps that focus a single entire area or method of communication, preserve data for up to three years, and share it with other intelligence agencies. Both houses of parliament had already previously passed the law. While the referendum was not binding, Prime Minister Mark Rutte promised to consider its outcome seriously. Rutte had said that the law was required to avert terror attacks, and said it would make the country “safer”. Those opposed to the law had labelled it as the “trawling law”.