Can we use Linky to check that the confinement is respected?

• For several days, the question of using the Linky counter to ensure that the French respect confinement has been circulating on social networks.
• This idea came from a tweet from the mayor of Nice calling on the state services to ask Enedis to check whether the second homes in his city were occupied or not.
• Use of the data collected by the communicating meter which is not legal.

How are the data collected by Linky meters used? This question is bothering many opponents of the smart meter deployed in France since 2016 and which must next year equip no less than 35 million homes.

In recent days, the role that this small box could play to enforce containment has also aroused interest, especially since its relay by the very followed Facebook page "UnionGiletsJaunes", referring to an article in the Journal du Net .

It all started with a tweet from Christian Estrosi, ten days ago. While the mayor of Nice is stepping up actions in the context of the coronavirus epidemic, in the midst of a series of measures taken to limit the arrival of holidaymakers on the Côte d'Azur, he mentioned the use of counter to enforce containment.

3. I have sensitized the state authorities so that they can request @enedis to verify that the second homes are not occupied during the holiday period, in order to enforce the confinement period. # COVID19france

"I sensitized the authorities of the State so that they can solicit Enedis to verify that the second residences are not occupied during the period of the holidays, in order to make respect the period of confinement", he indicates thus in a tweet. If the communicating counter is not mentioned by name, it is thanks to him that the city councilor believes that it would be possible to flush out the free riders.

Rather than sending municipal police officers to hide in front of all second homes, looking at whether the electricity consumption of a home has increased in recent days would be simpler and require less human resources.

FAKE OFF

But is this idea of ​​using the communicating meter for other purposes than that of recording household consumption really possible? Contacted by 20 Minutes , the company Enedis indicates for its part that it has not received requests in this sense from mayors or communities. The manager of the electricity network also specifies that "the confidentiality of data is protected, and moreover by the National Commission for Data Protection (CNIL)".

A recourse to the CNIL also necessary according to the departmental secretary of the CGT energy, Patrick Santo, who, questioned by Nice Matin , also notes that some occupants of secondary residence may have been there before.

And if Enedis or one of the electricity suppliers wanted to have a precise consumption, the collection of this detailed data (per hour or half hour) is only possible with the consent of the consumer, under penalty of violating the general regulations on the data protection (GDPR).

In the event of a serious criminal offense

But before going into detail, the very possibility of forcing Enedis to say whether the accommodation is occupied or not, is legally illegal. “A mayor cannot use this data to monitor the presence of people, even the state cannot. Only a judge could, but it would have to be characterized as a serious criminal offense and as far as I know there was no formal prohibition or a clear rule which prohibits going to your home in your secondary residence ", indicates Maître Christophe Lèguevaques .

#Coronavirus # COVID19 #Estrosi: the #Linky spy counter allows apprentice dictators to "flick" citizens: https://t.co/p4i6fICSIi pic.twitter.com/rpnF2OP8D4

But for this lawyer engaged in a collective action to enforce the individual refusal to install the meter, the fact that Christian Estrosi thought of using it to control the containment is a sign of the possible abuses. "The reasoning of the mayor of Nice is worth nothing in law, there is no textual support to make espionage valid, but it shows that materially Linky can be diverted from its use and use for other purposes than the counting consumption, ”insists the lawyer.

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• Personal data
• Christian Estrosi
• Coronavirus
• Fake Off
• Nice
• Linky counter
• Society