Release Big Brother Awards/Souriez/Odebi
“EDVIGE” : a complete outlawed file
Paris, July 3, 2008 - Privacy International, the Big Brother Awards France (BBA), Souriez vous êtes filmés (Smile you are filmed) and the Odebi League join the releases issued on 1 July by the LDH (Human Rights League) and by the Syndicat de la Magistrature alerting on extreme danger of Edvige file.
Without any public debate, this file, common to the General Informations (RG) and the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST) which now exist within a single intelligence agency - the Central Management of Public Security - just be “legalised” by decree [1]. “Legalise” is a great term because the identification of most personal information to be included in this file is strictly forbidden by the Data Protection Law, except… in case of “state security” [2]. It will include, indeed, identity information not only for “suspects” that could “disturb public order”, but also all the notes regarding intelligence at work as political opinions, religion, sex, ethnic origin, the trade union affiliations and associations. The young people are also concerned as Edvige will also target them starting at 13.
We might wonder today if the state still makes any difference between “suspect” and “offender”, between “capable of the act” and “sentenced”. And if achieving the hypothetical “state security” - including acts such as helping children of people with no paper, to rebel against an excessive police authority, or does not want GMOs in his plate - may, in a democracy, serve as a pretext for the establishment of such a file. It can recall the files system of the Prime Minister Foucher which included informations, denunciations and slanders about any person suspected of not being a good patriot of the Empire.
The BBA France deplored again the impotence of the CNIL [3] to prevent the constitution of Edvige. It is mainly due to changes in the Data Protection Law endorsed by its rapporteur and Chairman Alex Turk and to its financial dependence to the money of the state. They also denounced the lack of response from the Council of State, which has necessarily been consulted for such a text.
The only democratic attitude is to oppose massively to this abusive and dangerous information filing, who denies their rights to a certain category of people, especially regarding privacy. Those proven or potential offenders and protest activists, as well as the criminals and terrorists are human beings which are due fundamental rights guaranteed to all people by the Constitution and Declarations of Human Rights. The BBA France will join all associations which work to enforce these rights and ask for the deletion of the Edvige file system.
The team of BBA France, member of Privacy International, with Souriez, vous êtes filmés ! and the Odebi League.
LINKS:
- Release of the League of Human Rights, 1 July 2008.
- “La Direction des Affaires Criminelles voit des terroristes partout”, Release of the Union of Magistrates, 1 July 2008.
See also (LDH Toulon) :
- “Fichage des bandes et vidéo-surveillance sont les mamelles du sécuritaire” (02/07/2008).
- Edvige : “Fichez-moi tous ces mineurs…” (02/07/2008).
- About the software “Ardoise” “Ariane” interface future common file of the PJ and the Gendarmerie : “Ardoise”, nouveau fichier contesté (16/04/2008).
NOTES:
[1] Decree No. 2008-632 of 27 June 2008 “establishing an automated processing of personal data called “EDVIGE”.
[2] Data Protection Law Chapter II, Section 2. Article 8:
“It is forbidden to collect or process personal data reflecting, directly or indirectly, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, philosophical or religious affiliation or association of persons, or which are related to health or the sex life of them. ”
[3] The “opinion” of the CNIL of June 16 and published on July 2.