As students return to school and people return to work after summer break they are already up in arms against a new security database in France that is designed to store personal information on people as young as 13.
The information that can be collected includes addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, physical appearance, behavioral traits, fiscal and financial records, and details about people who have personal ties with the subject.
The aim is “to centralize and analyze data on people aged 13 or above who are active in politics or labor unions, who play a significant institutional, economic, social or religious role, or who are likely to breach public order. ”
The decree creating the “Edvige” electronic database appeared in the official gazette on July 1, when the country was winding down for the summer, but news of its content has been gradually filtering out and is now stirring fierce criticism.
“There is nothing in the decree that sets limits or a framework. Whether the database is used with or without moderation depends only on orders from up high. The electronic Bastille is upon us,” wrote Michel Pezet, a lawyer and former member of a body charged with protecting French citizens from electronic prying.
By Bastille, he means the notorious Paris fortress in which French kings could arbitrarily imprison opponents until it was stormed on July 14, 1789, at the start of the French Revolution.
Continue reading to find out more.
