CNIL
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The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés or CNIL is an independent French administrative authority whose mission is to ensure that data privacy law is applied to the collection, storage, and use of personal data. Created by the [law n° 78-17] on 6 january 1978 about computers, files and liberties (data privacy).
History
SAFARI was an attempt by the French government to create a centralized database of personal data. On March 21 1974 an article in the newspaper Le Monde brought public attention to the project. The massive popular rejection of this project promoted the creation of the CNIL.
Composition and independence
The CNIL is composed of seventeen members from various government entities, four of whom are members of the parliament (Assemblée nationale and Sénat). Twelve of these members are elected by their representative organisations in the CNIL.
The CNIL's administrative authority status gives it total independence to select the actions that it will undertake. However, its power is limited and defined by law. The CNIL is financed by the budget of the French State.
| Presidents of the CNIL | Began | Ended |
| Pierre Bellet | December 5 1978 | November 27 1979 |
| Jacques Thyraud | 1979 | 1983 |
| Jean Rosenwald | 1983 | June 1984 |
| Jacques Fauvet | June 14 1984 | 1999 |
| Michel Gentot | February 3 1999 | January 7 2004 |
| Alex Türk | February 3 2004 | |
Power
The CNIL registers the setup of information systems which process personal data on the French territory. More than 800,000 declarations of such systems have been done as of September 2004. Moreover, the CNIL checks the law to be applied in this domain as do about 50 control missions each year. CNIL can warn organisations or people who are found to be noncompliant with the law. CNIL can denounce them to the Parquet.
- 300 nominative information systems are registered each day.
- 8000 phone call per month.
- 4000 pleintes or requests for information each year.
Regulation
The main principles for regulation of personal data processing are as follows (list not enclusive):- all illegal means of data collection are forbidden;
- the aim of the data files must be explicitly stated;
- people registered in files must be informed of their rights, for example, for rectification and deletion of data on demand;
- finally, no decision about an individual can be decided by a computer.
European and International Contexts
Sweden in 1973, Germany in 1971, and France in 1978 were the first three States to vote for such a law computers and liberty law. Those laws work with independent control authority.International, economic, and political structures have been created to apply CNIL directives. Among these are the Organisation pour la coopération et le développement économique (OCDE) (EDCO) in 1980, the Council of Europe in 1981 and the United Nations (ONU) (UNO) in 1990. In 1995, the European Commission voted a directive in this way. As of 2004, 25 countries have applied this directive.
See also
External links
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