Japan Could Launch Wave of 'Mass Surveillance' Amid New Security Bill - Snowden

Japanese citizens could face a wave of "mass surveillance" amid government efforts to adopt a bill that could strengthen police powers to enhance counterterrorism measures, US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden told the Japanese Kyodo news agency in an interview.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The whistleblower added that the consequences for Japanese society could be even more severe if the adopted bill would coincide with the use of the XKEYSCORE data collection system.

"This is the beginning of a new wave of mass surveillance in Japan," Snowden said.

According to him, the situation in the Asian country was reminiscent of the security situation in the United States shortly after 9/11.

In March, the Japanese government approved the conspiracy bill that could allegedly crack down on terror attack plotters in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but critics fear it could increase the state surveillance of labor unions and other civil rights groups. The draft law criminalizes preparations and planning of 277 crimes.