In the United States, CIA Director John Brennan invoked the Paris attacks to defend mass surveillance. In apparent reference to disclosures by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Brennan suggested revelations about mass spying have made it harder to find terrorists.

John Brennan: “In the past several years, because of a number of unauthorized disclosures and a lot of hand wringing over the government’s role in the effort to try to uncover these terrorists, there have been some policy and legal and other actions that are taken that make our ability, collectively, internationally, to find these terrorists much more challenging.”

Civil liberties advocates disputed Brennan’s claims. Jameel Jaffer of the American Civil Liberties Union said: “As far as I know, there’s no evidence the French lacked some kind of surveillance authority that would have made a difference. When we have invested new powers in the government in response to events like the Paris attacks, they have often been abused.”