[open-government] France proposes police controls on who uses public information

Tue Nov 23 13:28:13 UTC 2010

Is this something that we should consider trying to do a sign-on letter
about (perhaps to French MPs)? Seems very toxic and would set an
incredibly bad precedent.

Toby

> Thanks for the relay Victoria,
>
> FYI, for external reasons (delays in previous debates), the Presidents
> conference of the national assembly decided this morning that the
> discussion
> of the law will be delayed to at least the 14th of december :
> http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2010/11/23/l-examen-de-la-loi-loppsi-repousse-au-14-decembre_1443997_651865.html#xtor=RSS-3208001?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
>
> This will give us a bit more time to alert MP's about this dangerous
> article.
>
> Benjamin Ooghe-Tabanou for Regards Citoyens
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 14:11, Victoria Anderica
> <victoria at access-info.org>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>  [image: regards-citoyens]**
>>
>> * *
>> * * * * *Press Release*
>>
>> *For immediate publication*
>>
>> *France proposes police controls on who uses public information*
>>
>> *Madrid/Paris, 23 November 2010* – A law to be discussed in the French
>> parliament before the end of 2010 will result in the police carrying out
>> “behaviour” checks on members of the public and organisations wanting to
>> reuse information obtained from public bodies. The likely effect is to
>> severely limit access to information and freedom of expression.
>>
>> The draft law currently before the French National Assembly amends the
>> 1995
>> Police Security Act and will extend the scope of police “behaviour”
>> checks
>> from legitimate purposes such as checking on those to have access to
>> dangerous substances and high security zones to those who want to reuse
>> information obtained from public bodies. The criteria for the background
>> checks are not specified in the law.
>>
>> The information affected could include, for example, databases on public
>> spending, copies of laws, or electoral results. Much data held by local
>> authorities which is of great interest to the public such as schedules
>> and
>> real-time locations of trains and buses, information about recycling
>> schemes, and construction works permits would also fall under these new
>> controls.
>>
>> The associations Access Info Europe and Regards Citoyens today expressed
>> concerns that the law, if adopted, will significantly complicate and
>> slow
>> access to information in France.
>>
>> “This is an extremely dangerous law which would seriously limit freedom
>> of
>> expression in France,” said Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of
>> Access
>> Info Europe.
>>
>> “Subjecting those who wish to access and reuse public datasets to
>> vaguely-defined morality controls runs counter to the basic principles
>> of
>> the freedom of expression and information enshrined in the French
>> Constitution, and is a violation of European Court of Human Rights
>> jurisprudence and EU law,” added Darbishire.
>>
>> Access Info Europe notes that in 2010 many leading democracies such as
>> the
>> US and the UK, Norway and Spain, Australia and New Zealand, are posting
>> on
>> line large volumes of public data making them free for anyone in the
>> world
>> to use. They do this out of recognition of the societal and economic
>> benefits that flow from the reuse of public sector information.
>>
>> “If this provision were to be adopted, France would be closing down
>> public
>> access to information rather than opening it up,” concluded Benjamin
>> Ooghe-Tabanou, co-founder of Regards Citoyens.
>>
>> Notes for Editors:
>>
>> 1. Access Info Europe <http://www.access-info.org/> is a human rights
>> organisation head-quartered in Madrid which promote 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. The proposed reform is to 1995 Security Law (*Loi n°95-73 du 21
>> janvier
>> 1995 d'orientation et de programmation relative à la
>> sécurité<http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000005617582&dateTexte=20101122>
>> *).* *
>>
>> 4.* *The amendment would impact on the right of access to public
>> information granted under the 1978 Access to Administrative Documents
>> Law<http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006068643&dateTexte=20101122>
>> * *as modified by European Union Directive 2003/98/EC of the European
>> Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the re-use of
>> public
>> sector
>> information<http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:345:0090:0096:EN:PDF>.
>> The EU Directive requires that governments to create “fair,
>> proportionate
>> and non-discriminatory conditions for the re-use of [public sector]
>> information.” The European Commission is currently reviewing this
>> Directive. This case and the broader impact of this Directive on the
>> fundamental right of access to information should be carefully reviewed
>> by
>> the Commission.
>>
>> 5. The Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official
>> Documents<http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=205&CM=8&DF=22/11/2010&CL=ENG>from
>> 2009, not yet signed by France, requires that all requesters be treated
>> equally and without discrimination. It is illegitimate under this and
>> other
>> international standards to ask why someone wants information or what
>> they
>> will do with it.
>>
>> 6. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that access to
>> information
>> held by public bodies when these are monopolies is an inherent part of
>> the
>> right to freedom of expression: information is needed to participate in
>> democratic public debate. See, *inter alia* *Társaság a
>> Szabadságjogokért
>> v. Hungary (App no 37374/05), ECHR, 14 April
>> 2009.<http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=849278&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649.>
>> *
>>
>> 7. 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, 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<http://ACCESS%20INFO%20MATERIALS/Press%20Releases/AppData/AppData/Local/Temp/www.access-info.org>
>> )
>>
>> helen at access-info.org, mobile: +34 667 685 319
>>
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___________________________________
Toby Mendel

Centre for Law and Democracy
toby at law-democracy.org
Tel:  +1 902 431-3688
Fax: +1 902 431-3689
www.law-democracy.org