Act was amended in 2004 to create the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des
Liberte ´s (CNIL, National Commission for Information and Liberties), an independent
administrative authority designed to ensure the protection of privacy and personal
data. 35 With a mission of control and investigation, the CNIL can warn and impose
financial sanctions in case of Data Protection Act violations. It issues an annual report
based on its observations. 36
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, privacy and data protection rights in France have been undermined by two laws: the Loi sur la Se ´curite ´
Quotidienne (LSQ, Daily Safety Law) that was urgently approved, almost unanimously,
by parliament on November 15, 2001, and the Loi sur la Se ´curite ´ Inte ´rieure (LSI, Internet
Safety Law) that was enacted on February 13, 2003. 37 The laws extend to a year the
minimum period for which ISPs must keep a record of their customers’ Internet activity and e-mail traffic. The LSI authorizes immediate access to the computer data of
telecommunications operators, as well as those of almost any public or private institution; it also allows judges to order that ‘‘secret methods that cannot be revealed
for reasons of national defense’’ be used to decode encrypted e-mail messages. In addition, authorities can require encryption firms to hand over their codes so that they can
read encrypted online messages. 38 These provisions have been considered as a threat
to the principle of confidentiality of professional and private communications in
France. 39
As a result of a campaign strongly focused on security issues, closed-circuit television
(CCTV) is used in France for surveillance in public places so as to prevent criminal
behavior. In 2007, the French Interior Minister announced that the number of CCTV
cameras in France would triple by 2009. This policy has been designed and pursued to
fight terrorism and street crime. 40
On May 4, 2008, the French government ordered the creation of biometric passports
for its citizens, citing the need to comply with post-9/11 U.S. security demands. French
citizens will now be issued biometric passports that will include eight fingerprints and
a digital picture; the data are then collected in a national database. 41 On December 11,
2007, the CNIL published an unfavorable opinion concerning this project, fearing
serious damage to private life and individual liberties. 42
On April 9, 2009, the Projet de loi Favorisant la Diffusion et la Protection de la Cre ´ation
sur Internet (Bill promoting the dissemination and protection of creation on the Internet), intended to deny Internet access to users who repeatedly downloaded copyrighted content without paying, was rejected by the French National Assembly. 43
The proposed law (widely referred to as HADOPI, an acronym for Haute Autorite ´ pour
la Diffusion des Oeuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet [High Authority for Copyright Protection and Dissemination of Works on the Internet], the agency the bill
would create), backed by President Sarkozy and by France’s film and record industries,
was brought to the National Assembly a second time on May 13, 2009, and approved,
France
301
Liberte ´s (CNIL, National Commission for Information and Liberties), an independent
administrative authority designed to ensure the protection of privacy and personal
data. 35 With a mission of control and investigation, the CNIL can warn and impose
financial sanctions in case of Data Protection Act violations. It issues an annual report
based on its observations. 36
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, privacy and data protection rights in France have been undermined by two laws: the Loi sur la Se ´curite ´
Quotidienne (LSQ, Daily Safety Law) that was urgently approved, almost unanimously,
by parliament on November 15, 2001, and the Loi sur la Se ´curite ´ Inte ´rieure (LSI, Internet
Safety Law) that was enacted on February 13, 2003. 37 The laws extend to a year the
minimum period for which ISPs must keep a record of their customers’ Internet activity and e-mail traffic. The LSI authorizes immediate access to the computer data of
telecommunications operators, as well as those of almost any public or private institution; it also allows judges to order that ‘‘secret methods that cannot be revealed
for reasons of national defense’’ be used to decode encrypted e-mail messages. In addition, authorities can require encryption firms to hand over their codes so that they can
read encrypted online messages. 38 These provisions have been considered as a threat
to the principle of confidentiality of professional and private communications in
France. 39
As a result of a campaign strongly focused on security issues, closed-circuit television
(CCTV) is used in France for surveillance in public places so as to prevent criminal
behavior. In 2007, the French Interior Minister announced that the number of CCTV
cameras in France would triple by 2009. This policy has been designed and pursued to
fight terrorism and street crime. 40
On May 4, 2008, the French government ordered the creation of biometric passports
for its citizens, citing the need to comply with post-9/11 U.S. security demands. French
citizens will now be issued biometric passports that will include eight fingerprints and
a digital picture; the data are then collected in a national database. 41 On December 11,
2007, the CNIL published an unfavorable opinion concerning this project, fearing
serious damage to private life and individual liberties. 42
On April 9, 2009, the Projet de loi Favorisant la Diffusion et la Protection de la Cre ´ation
sur Internet (Bill promoting the dissemination and protection of creation on the Internet), intended to deny Internet access to users who repeatedly downloaded copyrighted content without paying, was rejected by the French National Assembly. 43
The proposed law (widely referred to as HADOPI, an acronym for Haute Autorite ´ pour
la Diffusion des Oeuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet [High Authority for Copyright Protection and Dissemination of Works on the Internet], the agency the bill
would create), backed by President Sarkozy and by France’s film and record industries,
was brought to the National Assembly a second time on May 13, 2009, and approved,
France
301