Sign against Edvige

Edvige is the lovely name of the not-so-lovely new French police database. The June 27 2008 law, was published in the French"Journal Officiel" on July 1st, thanks to the CNIL, even though the government had not wished it to be published. Instead, it was published at a very quiet time of the year, during the vacances...

The French police is not entitled to gather personal data on individuals who have reached their 13th birthday, and who are likely to upset public order (susceptibles de porter atteinte à l'ordre public). Data thus gathered can be, of course, their names, addresses, and photographs, but also their tax reports, the names of the persons they associated with. Data regarding their health and sexuality can be gathered "exceptionally", but the law does not say how the police is supposed to evaluate the exceptional that measure must be.

Thanks to the CNIL, the database will not be connected with others. Imagine a banker trying to figure out whether to extend a credit denying it because he has access to his health data, or discover that his client was arrested ten years ago for smoking a Gauloise inside a bar?

The press had informed the French citizens about that new law, but it has not succeeded creating the uproar necessary to withdraw it. The petition is here.