In March 2020, France introduced an emergency law imposing a strict lockdown on the whole country. People who did not comply were subject to fines and even jail time. Authorities recorded data on lockdown infringements in a criminal record database previously used only for driving offences, violating French and EU data protection standards.
In November 2020, La Quadrature du Net filed a claim before the Conseil d’État to overturn the French government’s expansion of the criminal record database to include COVID-19 lockdown infringements.
France criminal records database expanded during COVID-19
Organisation Name
La Quadrature du Net
Country/Jurisdiction
France
Thematic Area
Privacy and data protection
Current Status
Complete
Grant type
COVID-19 Litigation Fund
Description
In March 2020, France introduced an emergency law imposing a strict lockdown on the whole country. People who did not comply were subject to fines and even jail time. Authorities recorded data on lockdown infringements in a criminal record database previously used only for driving offences, violating French and EU data protection standards.
In November 2020, La Quadrature du Net filed a claim before the Conseil d’État to overturn the French government’s expansion of the criminal record database to include COVID-19 lockdown infringements.
On 21 December 2021, the Conseil d’Etat rejected the challenge, meaning the expansion of the database remains in place.
"Authorities recorded data on lockdown infringements in a criminal record database previously used only for driving offences, violating French and EU data protection standards."
Strategic Goal
To ensure that, in France, personal data of people who break the law is collected only for limited and specific purposes, meeting French and EU data protection standards.