France Raises Privacy Issues Over Consideration of Online Surveillance Program

Digital surveillance, Pixabay.

Ahead of a French parliamentary debate on a new digital surveillance program, French data privacy watchdog CNIL issued a statement to the government warning of the adoption of the program’s potential negative consequences.

The debate will specifically address the issue of adopting a three-year trial of a digital surveillance program that is designed to aid French authorities in efforts to more accurately detect tax evasion and fraud. The specific surveillance program would allow French authorities to collect data on citizens’ digital activities on websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and eBay.

The rationale behind the program, as outlined by French Minister of Public Action and Accounts Gérald Darmanin, is that by monitoring spending patterns and social media posts, French authorities will be able to identify large gaps between citizens’ declared incomes and actual spending. To explain the concept behind the program better, Darmanin told French TV show Capital last year that French authorities “will be able to see that if you have numerous pictures of yourself with a luxury car while you don’t have the means to own one, then maybe your cousin or your girlfriend has lent it to you, or maybe not.”

CNIL noted in its written statement on 30 September that “[the] program presents very specific issues from the point of view of freedoms, given [its] impact on privacy and its possible effects on freedom of expression online.” It also noted that the computer algorithm that lies at the heart of this pilot program would raise “unprecedented questions over personal data protection.” Additionally, CNIL raised concerns over the possibility of the algorithm engaging in data mining on a large scale as opposed to targeted collection of data for specific cases of tax fraud and evasion. The CNIL has advised the government to exercise “a great deal of prudence” concerning the program.

According to Solidaires Finances Publiques, the largest union representing France’s tax authorities, tax fraud and tax evasion cost the French government between  €80 to €100 billion ($88 to $110 billion) in 2017.

A similar computer program called Connect currently exists in the United Kingdom and operates under the authority of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). According to the Financial Times, “it sifts vast quantities of information—more even than the data stored in the British Library—in its hunt for underpaid tax.”