Engage in dialogue with civil society on data protection issues (FR0105)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) receives more than 14,000 inquiries and complaints every year and, despite an increase in its resources, it struggles to answer so many individual questions and requests promptly. The CNIL does its best to meet the complainant’s needs and, when appropriate, triggers measures from the audit to the sanctions stage in order to force non-compliant players to fall into line with the rules. Individual rights are not just the business of the CNIL or individual people; they are a collective concern. Every segment of society needs to be able to address these matters so that they understand them more fully and, when appropriate, can assert their rights. Though data protection officers already serve as the point of contact on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in organisations, the CNIL would like to encourage the development and/or creation of new data intermediaries. The protection of personal and private data can be strengthened if these matters are taken into account by unions and through the actions of non-profits, citizens and civil society as a whole. French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) 206 Data intermediaries could make the protection of freedoms and personal data an important consideration for society to factor in, as well as a matter of shared interest.

What is the commitment? With that in mind and in the context of the OGP, the CNIL seeks to build a dialogue with civil society on data protection issues, in order to support and spur the creation and development of data intermediaries. The actions undertaken will focus on bringing together civil society stakeholders, non-profits, unions and citizens’ groups, in order to come up with ideas on how to strengthen their initiatives as well as to help new players grow. A series of brainstorming and co-creation workshops will be held in the fourth quarter of 2021 and in the first half of 2022.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The CNIL’s foremost purpose is to protect rights and freedoms. It does so primarily by ensuring the compliance of different stakeholders (case handlers), whether by applying its enforcement powers, providing guidance to firms and government departments, managing a network of data protection officers or producing resources that improve implementation of the GDPR and various applicable laws, especially by civil society. The CNIL will host a series of workshops with civil society (non-profits, unions, citizens’ groups, etc.) and citizen participation (civic tech) representatives to devise strategies to develop citizen participation and initiatives on the protection of data and freedoms. The CNIL is committed to relaying and highlighting civil society initiatives on the protection of data and freedoms, such as through its Digital Innovation Lab (LINC). 207 The CNIL can support this movement by producing toolkits.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The workshops to be hosted by the CNIL will contribute to the transparency of its initiatives and provide a forum for meeting and exchanging with civil society, in order to give visibility to and to ensure comprehension of its initiatives and their context and scope. The aim of this commitment is to develop a form of citizen participation and to spur all citizens and segments of civil society to take into account the protection of data and freedoms. It should help citizens to become players alongside the CNIL and other groups known for their activism in defence of freedoms. Additional information The workshop will be organised and coordinated by the CNIL, in conjunction with the Interministerial Directorate for Government Transformation (DITP).

Action Plan Review

Commitment 55. Engage in dialogue with civil society on data protection issues to make an individual right a collective matter

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Unclear