[open-government] Worrying French proposal to apply privacy rules to corporate bodies

[Chris Taggart]

http://blog.brusselssunshine.eu/2011/01/backclash-against-transparency-right-to.html

Excerpt:

Last week, French right-wing MP Bernard Carayon in an interview for
the website Rue89 boldly stated "I claim that the State and private
companies should also benefit from physical persons' right to privacy.
[...] Companies should be allowed to define for themselves which
information remains secret [...]."
Carayon, who also chairs the French corporate-funded think-tank
Prometheus Foundation, recently tabled a remarkable legislative
proposal in the French Parliament that aims to enhance business
secrecy to the point of seriously undermining the public's right to
know about corporate practices.
Carayon wants to increase protection for "economic information" by
introducing a three-year prison sentence and a 375.000€ fine for
anyone found guilty of breaching “the confidentiality of information
of an economic nature". The sentence would be doubled if the culprit
has acted "with the intention of causing harm" or has "made a personal
profit" by leaking the information.

This is a must-read for all concerned with transparency and access to data

Chris
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