France's government is pressing a surveillance bill that would give French intelligence services NSA-like powers to vacuum up metadata in hopes of preventing an imminent terror attack.

The measure introduced Thursday has already prompted outcry from some privacy advocates and human-rights groups.

The bill was proposed long before the deadly Paris attacks by Islamic extremists earlier this year, but the government says it takes on added urgency with each person who radicalizes and turns against France.

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It would notably force communications firms to give intelligence services access to connection data of people suspected of involvement with terrorist groups. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve went to San Francisco last month to discuss the measure with Internet giants including Google, Facebook and Twitter.

France's parliament starts debating the bill next month.