France's government can pursue plans to trawl Social Media to detect tax avoidance, its Constitutional Court ruled last week, although it introduced limitations on what information can be collected following a privacy outcry. From a report: The new rules, part of a broader law on tax changes passed by the lower house of parliament earlier this month, add to the state's surveillance powers by letting it collect masses of public data, as part of a three-year online monitoring experiment. Customs and tax authorities will be allowed to review people's profiles, posts and photographs on social media for evidence of undeclared income or inconsistencies.

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