[open-government] Good news from France

Mon Dec 20 19:59:57 UTC 2010

regards-citoyens

Press Release

For immediate publication

Threat to Open Data withdrawn by French Parliament

Madrid/Paris, 20 December 2010 - Access Info Europe and Regards Citoyens
today welcomed the withdrawal last week of a proposed amendment to France's
security and access to information laws which would have required background
behaviour checks on users of government information. 

The proposed amendment was significantly changed in the French parliament on
Thursday 16 December following an international campaign by 35 organisations
and experts from 25 countries which had raised concerns that the new law
would seriously constrain both access to information and freedom of
expression. Read the campaign letter here
<http://www.access-info.org/documents/documents/Letter_France_PSI_control.pd
f> . 

As a result, multiple members of parliament from all political groups
proposed either to change the dangerous amendment or to withdraw it. The
version eventually adopted no longer refers to France's access to
information law and only requires "morality" checks on users of the national
database of car number plates. 

"Some could still argue that having such personal data accessible for
commercial marketing purposes is unacceptable, but that will be up to the
Senate to discuss in a couple months. Today the threat to open public data
has been withdrawn," said Benjamin Ooghe-Tabanou, co-founder of Regards
Citoyens.

"The immediate danger for the right to information has passed," commented
Helen Darbishire of Access Info Europe, "but there remains a concern that a
special legal regime has been adopted to give a handful of businesses
privileged access to personal data." 

Access Info and Regards Citoyens noted with concern that other measures
adopted by the French parliament include administrative filtering of
internet content without judicial oversight, something human rights
organisations fear will lead to censorship of the internet. Read more here
<http://www.laquadrature.net/en/administrative-net-censorship-adopted-in-fra
nce-pedophiles-unworried> .  

The two civil society organisations today called on the French government to
focus on a broader initiative to open up public sector information for all
users. They noted that this is happening in many leading democracies - such
as Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom and the
United States - which are posting large volumes of raw public data online
with no preconditions on who may use it or how. This is done in recognition
of the significant social and economic benefits that such transparency
brings, including promoting participation in decision-making and permitting
development of applications that benefit society as a whole.

Notes for Editors:

1. Access Info Europe <http://www.access-info.org/>  is a human rights
organisation head-quartered in Madrid which promotes the right of access to
information and open government data in Europe. Access Info Europe believes
that more public information means better participation in and greater
accountability of public bodies.

2. Regards Citoyens <http://www.regardscitoyens.org/qui-sommes-nous/>  is a
civic association which promotes the opening of public data to secure
greater transparency of democratic institutions in France.

3. Information about the amendment finally adopted can be found (in French)
on the website Nosdeputes.fr, http://www.nosdeputes.fr/amendement/2827/332 )

4. Examples of online portals for accessing public data include
www.data.gov, www.data.gov.uk, www.data.gov.au, www.data.gov.nz. 

For more information - in English or French - please contact:

Victoria Anderica, Access Info Europe,  <mailto:victoria at access-info.org>
victoria at access-info.org

Office phone: +34 91 366 5344

Mobile: +34 606 592 976

Helen Darbishire, Access Info Europe (www.access-info.org)

 <mailto:helen at access-info.org> helen at access-info.org, mobile: +34 667 685
319

_________________________

Helen Darbishire, Executive Director

Access Info Europe,  <http://www.access-info.org/> www.access-info.org 

mobile tel: + 34 667 685 319

e-mail:  <mailto:helen at access-info.org> helen at access-info.org

Skype: helen_darbishire

Linked In: Helen Darbishire

Twitter: @Access_Info, @helen_access

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