France's civil liberties groups are aghast following
the creation of a computer database which will be used to spy on
citizens – even those with no criminal record. The database, named Edvige, will contain personal information such as interests, sexual inclination, social circle and tax payments.
Edvige stands for Exploitation Documentaire et Valorisation de l'Information Générale. (The French authorities love acronyms (there is another, even more secretive internal security database, called CRISTINA (Centralisation du Renseignement Intérieur pour la Sécurité du Territoire et les Intérêts Nationaux).)
Supporters of Edvige in Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet argue that it merely
puts into electronic database form details that France's sinister
security agencies have gathered on citizens for decades. Opponents -
who range from the hard right, through libertarian to the hard left – complain that
very personal information will soon be at the fingertips of not only
the police, but also the most lowly snooping fonctionnaire
As Charles Bremner explains in the Times,
Edvige is a girl's name – hence the nickname “Big Sister”. It was
created in July to monitor “anyone aged 13 or above who is “likely to
breach public order.”"
Edvige will also keep her eye on “anyone active in politics or trade
unions and in a significant role in business, the media, entertainment
or social or religious institutions.”
“Listed people will have limited rights to consult their files,” Bremner adds.
Bremner includes a fascinating short history of the intelligence
files that will be entered into the Edvige database, and who will be
peering into them:
“The Government is depicting Edvige as a modernised version of the
files that have long been gathered by officers of the Renseignements
Généraux (RG). This police intelligence service has acted as the eyes
and the ears of the state, spying on citizens under various names since
it was created by Joseph Fouché, Napoleon Bonaparte's police chief.
Civil liberties groups said that the RG has files on 20 million people.
“The police spy service, whose officers snoop in cafés, work places,
housing estates and union meetings, was amalgamated this year with the
DST (Departement du Surveillance du Territoire), the counter-espionage
and anti-terrorist agency that equates to Britain's MI5. Edvige will be
the main tool of the new combined super-agency, called the Direction
Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (Central Directorate of Internal
Intelligence).”
20 million people? That's a third of the population. Keeping these
files updated is a feat of Stasi-level proportions, and one shudders to
imagine the number of French citizens who are involved in gathering
information for the spooks.
The level of snooping activity that has always gone on in France
would surprise many other western Europeans. The Mitterrand era was
notorious for snooping, as President François Mitterrand ordered phone
taps and surveillance of hundreds of newspapers, businesses and private
citizens. His “secret republic”
of spies, shady security guards and informers intimidated thousands
more, including fellow civil servants sent in to investigate corruption.
Famously, Mitterrand ordered phone taps on actress Carole Bouquet,
who had caught the old man's eye. He is said to have enjoyed poring
over transcripts of conversations she and other prominent celebrities
had with their friends and lovers.
Mitterrand's France has been compared to a totalitarian state in all
but name. Recent trials and newspaper revelations about the regime led
many to believe that those bad old days were behind them: Edvige seems
to prove that they never went away.
EURSOC has argued that the British model of electronic surveillance
and use of anti-terror legislation against ordinary citizens would soon
be exported to the continent. Before long, we believe, the British
experience will become the standard for the EU. Protests against
increasing intrusion have fallen on deaf ears in the UK – even David
Davis MP, who resigned his seat this year to contest an election on a
civil liberties platform, seems to have fallen silent of late.
However, the strength of France's Edvige might be her weakness. It
has been difficult to rally support against encroachments on Britain's
ancient civil liberties. Only the campaign against ID cards has
succeeded in gaining any traction with the public, despite widespread
anger at government snooping and database-compiling activity. Many such
programmes have been introduced by steath; others, because they are the
product of different offices (the National Health Service; local
government offices; the Inland Revenue; local environment agencies and
police forces) have spread across the country in a diffuse fashion.
In France, though, Edvige presents a prominent target. For protestors, she is an anti-Marianne, an Orwellian “Big Sister“.
This makes it easier to focus opposition. One opponent, who headed a freedom of information watchdog, described Edvige as “the electronic Bastille.”
A newspaper warned, “Under the allure of a woman's Christian name, it
is the continuation of Fouché's tradition with a data network.”
A hundred thousand people have already signed a petition against
Edvige (and doubtless added their names to her files, if they weren't
already there). Hundreds of civil liberties associations have backed
lawsuits opposing it. A Facebook group opposing the database has been
created (bewilderingly, supporters of Edvige compare the biographical
details the database will compile with a social networking site).
Like British protests against the Big Brother state, France's
opposition draws figures from left and right – though perhaps France's primary State weapon against its people makes it an easier target for revolt.
Quite when the British will reach a level of intolerance over State run databases to match the French disgust is unclear, but eventually, everyone will have their breaking point.
Meanwhile, the only way a Government can maintain such a system is through the politics of fear, and the use of force.
But, There IS another way!
The
Libertarian
Party is the only party that has promised to put an end to this Politics of Fear, make such databases
illegal and repeal many of these draconian laws enacted over the past
10
years.
The Only home of Libertarian policy in the UK
Your Life, Your Country, Your Choice.
Hatip Eursoc
