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

Wed Nov 24 09:33:44 UTC 2010

Hi All 

Yes, we are preparing a letter to get sign ups for. 

The back-story reportedly is that some large and influential French
businesses want to get access to certain databases which contain personal
data and this is a brilliant solution to grant those companies access while
limiting who else has access! 

I note that this is part of a generally controversial law which also allows
for other measures such as increased CCTV surveillance and blocking internet
access for those who download illegally. 

Best, Helen 

-----Original Message-----
From: open-government-bounces at lists.okfn.org
[mailto:open-government-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of
toby at law-democracy.org
Sent: 23 November 2010 14:28
To: b.ooghe at gmail.com
Cc: open-government at lists.okfn.org; foianet at foiadvocates.info;
n.kayserbril at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [open-government] France proposes police controls on who uses
public information

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-l
> oi-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=LEGITE
>> XT000005617582&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=LEGITEXT000
>> 006068643&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&document
>> Id=849278&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB861
>> 42BF01C1166DEA398649.>
>> *
>>
>> 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%20Release
>> s/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

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