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

Thu Nov 25 08:56:48 UTC 2010

I agree, it's very bad precedent. If our russian MP's and public
bodies will know about this "example"... well, I think they could
follow this way since we have strong "security lobby" worried about
government publicity.

Is there any way how we could help to change this situation?

---
Ivan Begtin

Russian Open Government Data
http://www.opengovdata.ru

2010/11/23  <toby at law-democracy.org>:
>
> 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
>
>
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