The constitutional court has ruled, The French government can proceed with plans to scan social media to detect tax avoidance.

This means the tax officials in France are now allowed legally to review a person’s profile, posts, and pictures for evidence of undisclosed income.

This new rule is a part of the law on tax which was passed in the last week.

The Data watchdog CNIL said, the aim of the government is legitimate but it would still pose a threat to an individual’s freedom of expression and privacy.

The Human rights groups and Data protection authorities have expressed their concerns over the new law.

The court acknowledged that users’ freedom of expression and privacy can be compromised due to the law.

The court said, the authorities have to ensure they would stay away from the password-protected content and they will only be using the public information pertaining to the person.

Considering the law might be compromised the court even said, regulators should closely monitor the information on how it is being exploited.

This move will greatly enhance the state’s surveillance powers in the country. It will be a three-year online monitoring experiment by the government.

The Budget Minister Gérald Darmanin told to the newspaper Le Figaro, “If you say you’re not a fiscal resident in France and you keep posting pictures on Instagram from France, there might be an issue.”

Darmanin told French TV last year that the tax office “will be able to see that if you have numerous pictures of yourself with a luxury car while you don’t have the means to own one, then maybe your cousin or your girlfriend has lent it to you, or maybe not”.