Is France really under constant surveillance or are these unfounded fears?

Greetings,

I have been talking online with a friend who lives in France. We talk about different subjects different in terms of seriousness and we tend to get political. He gets freaked out whenever words like "terror" or "rape" are mentioned in the exchange and he freezes and says nothing except "You know where I live" speaking as if someone is actively spying on him and hold him accountable for something innocent or a truthful observation he didn't even say. …

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