The CNIL, the guardian of the private life of the French, suggested Thursday to higher education and research to seek alternatives to
“American collaborative tools”,
given the
“risk of illegal access to data”
by the authorities American.
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In a press release, the CNIL believes that it is
"necessary that the risk of illegal access to data by the American authorities be eliminated"
, so that higher education institutions continue to use American collaborative platforms (services offering messaging, document exchange, video conferencing, etc.). The CNIL considers that it is necessary that these establishments seek to
“identify possible alternatives”
to these American platforms, without ever citing any. It recognizes, however, that a
"transitional period"
is necessary before moving to another solution, particularly in view of the
"current health context"
.
The Covid-19 crisis and the lockdowns have made these platforms crucial to allow these establishments to continue to operate.
The CNIL specifies that it has ruled on this issue following a referral from the Conference of Grandes Ecoles (CGE) and the Conference of University Presidents (CPU).
"Excessive" surveillance of US intelligence
The CNIL's analysis is a consequence of the decision of the European Court of Justice, on July 16, 2020, to invalidate the “privacy shield”, the EU / USA agreement governing data transfers between the two continents. The Court
"ruled that the surveillance exercised by the American intelligence services on the personal data of European citizens was excessive, insufficiently supervised and without any real possibility of appeal,"
recalls the CNIL in its press release.
"She deduced that transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States are contrary to the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union"
, she added.
"If the CNIL and its (European) counterparts continue to analyze all the consequences of this decision, public and private organizations, French and European, must already"
comply, she continues.
The CNIL's opinion was published on the day of the announcement of the creation of a joint company by the French groups Capgemini and Orange to operate and distribute Microsoft cloud technologies in France.
This unprecedented Microsoft initiative aims precisely to respond to the concerns of Europeans about the control of their data.
