Are GAFAMs, Internet giants, in good standing on data protection?

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The giants of the net pushed to more respect for personal data. Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP

After being received at the Elysee by Emmanuel Macron, the CEO of Apple speaks Wednesday at the European Parliament at a conference on privacy. The opportunity for Tim Cook to discuss the new RGPD, the general regulation on data protection. Presented as a revolution in digital rights, it forces companies to obtain the consent of European Internet users to use their personal data but the giants of the Net are accused of not respecting it.

Entered into force on May 25, the RGPD was quick to produce its first effects. The CNIL, the National Commission for Informatics and Liberties, has published a first report on the first four months of application of the text. During this period, the French police officer of personal data received 3767 complaints, a rise of 64%, sign of an awareness of the general public on this issue. In addition, the CNIL has received several collective complaints. This type of procedure is one of the major novelties introduced by the RGPD.

In France, the association for the defense of freedoms on the Internet, La Quadrature du Net, filed five collective complaints involving 12,000 people against Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. The main criticism of these American companies is the "take it or leave it" tactic. Either the user accepts the terms of use and therefore gives up his personal data, or he no longer has access to the service, which is forbidden by the RGPD.

In the event of sanction, the companies risk big. Until then, the CNIL could impose a fine of up to 150,000 euros. The RGPD introduces much larger financial penalties, in theory up to 4% of turnover. For Google, this would be a fine of $ 3.7 billion but the legal guerrilla between GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft) and European citizens is just beginning.

" I am a big fan of RGPD "

For the giants of the Net, difficult to be openly opposed to the RGPD without giving the image of a company little concerned with the privacy of its customers. On this issue, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple wants to be at the forefront of the fight. " I'm a big fan of the RGPD, " he said on the first day of his European tour in Berlin. The apple brand seeks to distinguish itself from its GAFAM counterparts on this issue. " In fact, in some areas, Apple is less bad than Facebook and Google, " said Arthur Messaud, a lawyer at Quadrature du Net. " But Apple has surveillance practices contrary to the RGPD," says the activist. What Apple has been criticized for in our complaint is the use of the mega-cookie. When you buy an IPhone, you have an identification number, a mega-cookie, assigned to you. Apple installs it in your back, without telling you. This unique ID allows apps you've downloaded to build a profile for advertisers and then sell you the best products. The RGPD comes to protect us from these harmful and insidious advertising strategies. Our personal data are not goods. These are fundamental freedoms ! "

Towards an American RGPD?

Americans are not unaware of what is happening across the Atlantic and the debate in the United States is launched, against the backdrop of scandals and repeated hacks of Facebook or Google. At the end of September, representatives of the Web and telecom giants were invited to give their opinion on the GDPR to the senators of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transport. GAFAM has all affirmed its attachment to users' privacy while advocating for a more flexible framework than the new European regulation.

" Why would the United States accept an RGPD when they have a multi-trillion-dollar new technology industry whose model is based on manipulation and commercial exploitation of personal data? " Wonders the lawyer Olivier Iteanu. The signals sent go in the opposite direction of a RGPD analyzes this pioneer of the law on the internet quoting the Cloud Act voted in March by the Congress. This law of "digital interference" makes it easier for the government to obtain data stored outside the United States.

Olivier Iteanu is therefore not very optimistic about a federal law "at the level of the European GDPR". According to him, only a spectacular leak of data could force the United States, under the pressure of the citizens, to adopt an ambitious legislation. " It is not impossible that in a particularly important industrial accident affecting public opinion, there will be a radical change of legal policy on this subject in the United States ".