Edward Snowden’s revelations informed the French this week that National Security Agency surveillance scooped up 70 million of their phone records last December and January.

The French Foreign Ministry called in the U.S. ambassador and lodged official objections to the snooping. President Obama phoned French President Francois Hollande to discuss the matter.

The French government spies on its own people. But that, in the French view, is different, in-house, and normal.

Many Americans have the impression that NSA practices are out of control in the Obama Administration, and need to be bridled by the President, Congress, or the courts. This latest revelation suggests that the ostensible price of being made safe has become far too high.

First Published October 22, 2013, 11:28 p.m.