Mashable: The bill reportedly excludes journalists, lawyers, and some other professions from this surveillance.

If you're a suspect in France, you might want to watch what you say and do on your phone or laptop. The French government is one step closer to passing a law that would let police hack into your devices and turn them into spying tools.

The bill, which was approved by the National Assembly on Tuesday, would allow police to remotely activate cameras, microphones and GPS trackers on phones, computers and other gadgets. They would need a judge's authorization and could only use this power for serious crimes that carry at least five years in prison. The bill also excludes journalists, lawyers and some other professions from this surveillance.

But not everyone is convinced that this is a good idea. Digital rights activists say the bill is vague, dangerous and could lead to abuse. They warn that the government could target anyone they don't like, such as environmental protesters or whistleblowers. They also point out that the police would have to exploit security flaws in devices to access them, which could put everyone at risk of cyberattacks.

The Justice Minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, defended the bill, saying it was necessary to fight terrorism and organized crime. He claimed that the surveillance would be rare and limited, and that France was not turning into a dystopian nightmare.

The bill still needs to pass the Senate before it becomes law. But it comes at a time when global outrage is growing over the use of spyware by governments to spy on their critics. A recent investigation revealed that NSO Group, an Israeli company, sold its Pegasus software to dozens of countries that used it to hack the phones of journalists, activists and even heads of state.

The French bill may have a different scope and purpose, but it raises similar questions about privacy, security and human rights in the digital age.