Government approves broadening of intelligence service’s powers

The government in resignation has approved a proposal that would broaden the powers of the country’s intelligence services. At its last meeting on Monday, Andrej Babiš’s cabinet approved a draft legislation that would enable secret agents to use a face recognition system based on photographs.

Under the proposed legislation, which still needs to be approved by Parliament, intelligence services would also have access to information on bank accounts, which are normally protected by bank secrecy.