{"id":611,"date":"2023-10-03T23:57:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T21:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/?p=611"},"modified":"2023-10-03T23:58:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T21:58:37","slug":"a-few-thoughts-on-the-right-to-be-offline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/03\/a-few-thoughts-on-the-right-to-be-offline\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Thoughts on the Right to be Offline"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"western\"><i>Is There a Right not to Participate in Digital Technology?<\/i><\/h1>\n<p align=\"right\">Working Paper<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Should we be allowed to live without computers? Maybe, even, without electric power?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">According to recent polling <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">conducted by the Arcep (the French telco and ISP regulator) and the CREDOC<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_1');\" >[1]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Berhuet, Solen, Lucie Brice-Mansencal, Patricia Croutte, Eliot Forcadell, Charlotte Millot and J\u00f6rg M\u00fcller, 2023. Barom\u00e8tre de l\u2019Arcep et du CREDOC, see:&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_1');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">in <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">2022, still<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> about 8% of French residents do not use the Internet at all. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">That was almost 5,5 million people<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_2');\" >[2]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">based on population statistics published by INSEE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insee.fr\/fr\/statistiques\/5225246\">https:\/\/www.insee.fr\/fr\/statistiques\/5225246<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">E<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ven if only 1% of people aged between 18 and 24 declare they do not use the Internet at all, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">that would still <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">realistically concern thousands of young individuals across the country<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_3');\" >[3]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >I could not find overall demographic statistics on the population aged between 18 and 24, as the INSEE uses different categories, so I do not have an estimate of how many individuals are concerned in&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_3');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">There are many reasons to choose to go offline. Doing a quick search on any search engine, one can find a lot of articles describing the (real or supposed) merits of doing a \u201cdigital detox\u201d diet. As highlighted by Arcep-CREDOC study. One can also think of people refusing to use certain technologies for religious purposes, the Amish or the Old Believer Orthodox communities being well-known examples. Finally, some people simply do not have the means or the skills to access the Internet. It is worth noting that previously cited report shows that only 60% of people living in France without any diploma have a computer at home, compared to 89% as an average among the French population in general.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">For a very long people, the focus of constitutionalists was on the right to access the Internet. Such a right is based on the right to freedom of expression, which, according i.a. to article 19 of the UN\u2019s Universal Declaration on Human Rights, includes the right \u201creceive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.\u201d But do we have a right to be offline? In other words, can we be forced, either by the state or by private parties, to use computers and the Internet, <i>even if we do not want to?<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Surprisingly little has been devoted to this topic in the literature so far. So far, I have only identified one panel at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference (CPDP) in 2016 in Brussels<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_4');\" >[4]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Mittelstadt, Brent, Tobias Matzner, Ero Balsa, Katleen Gabriels, Hille Koskela and Carsten Ochs, 2016. CPDP 2016: Is there right for offline alternatives in a digital world? See panel recording at:&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_4');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, a 2021 blog post by Dariusz Kloza (2021)<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_5');\" >[5]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_5\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Kloza, Dariusz. 2021. \u201cIt\u2019s All About Choice: The Right Not to Use the Internet\u201d, V\u00f6lkerrechtsblog. See:&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_5');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> and, finally, a book chapter by Murat Karaboga, Tobias Matzner, Hannah Obersteller and Carsten Ochs (2017)<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_6\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_6');\" >[6]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_6\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Karaboga, Murat, Tobias Matzner, Hannah Obersteller and Carsten Ochs. 2017. \u201cIs There a Right to Offline Alternatives in a Digital World?\u201d, in: Leenes, Ronald, Rosamunde van Brakel, Serge&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_6');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. In his 2019 book called <i>L\u2019Utopie D\u00e9chue<\/i>, F\u00e9lix Tr\u00e9guer<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_7\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_7');\" >[7]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_7\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Tr\u00e9guer, F\u00e9lix. 2019. L\u2019Utopie D\u00e9chue. Une contre-histoire d\u2019Internet. Paris, Fayard. For an English language book review, see, e.g.:&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_7');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, ends his accounts of the constant struggle between freedom and control in the online public sphere by asking whether we should destroy computers. Indeed, for an increasing number of people, IT is morphing into a tool of control, contradicting the original promise of a \u201cCyberspace\u201d free of states equated to \u201cweary giants of flesh steel\u201d as described by John Perry Barlow in his famous declaration<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_8\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_8');\" >[8]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_8\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >The Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace can be read here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/fr\/cyberspace-independence\">https:\/\/www.eff.org\/fr\/cyberspace-independence<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. But he does not really explore answers to this question.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">This working paper is an attempt at taking this question seriously. It has been presented on Sept. 29, 2023 in a keynote at a conference in Szeged (at the \u00c1lom \u00e9s Val\u00f3s\u00e1g conference), and may provide the basis for future research and publication. Given that there is not even enough available literature on the topic to do something as basic \u2013 yet indispensable \u2013 as a literature review, instead, it freely explores the following questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">where does this idea of living offline come from? Where is the real-life harm that it aims at addressing, using the tools of human right law?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">Is there a right not to use information technology (IT)? This question will be dealt with in two steps:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">First, is there such a right <i>under the current state of information technology<\/i>, which itself is often non-compliant with existing legal norms, such as data protection law?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">Secondly, is there a general right to be offline, even if we posit the existence of hardware and software that is perfectly accessible, non-discriminatory, compliant with all laws, including data protection, environmental protection, security etc.?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">Finally, in the absence of such a right under current law, should we recognise such a right and why?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1 class=\"western\">Where Does the Idea Come From? And Where is the Harm?<\/h1>\n<p align=\"justify\">For a long time, activists and then official public policies have strived to protect both a negative and a positive right to access the Internet. This follows an already ancient (by IT standards) trend, at least in France. Every since a law from 1996<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_9\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_9');\" >[9]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_9\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Loi du 26 juillet 1996 de r\u00e9glementation des t\u00e9l\u00e9communications, article 8<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, there has been an article 35-5 in the Code of Posts and Telecommunications which states that access to digital services, including packet switching services (read: TCP\/IP and Internet), must be part of the universal service. Later, in 2009, the Constitutional Council ruled that accessing the Internet is an essential part of exercising the right to freedom of information, which includes the right to access the said information<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_10\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_10');\" >[10]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_10\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >C. Constitutionnel, 10 June 2009, decision 2009-580 DC, \u201cHadopi\u201d<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_10').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_10', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. At a European level, this was recognised by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in 2012<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_11\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_11');\" >[11]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_11\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 18 December 2012, Ahmet Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m v. Turkey, 3111\/10; see also ECtHR 17 January 2017 Jankovskis v. Lithuania, 21575\/08<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_11').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_11', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Finally, in 2016, back in France, the legislator aimed at turing a negative right into a positive one by including many articles in the Digital Republic Act aiming at improving access to the Internet, including in rural areas, by disabled people, or by people unable to pay bills<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_12\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_12');\" >[12]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_12\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See Title III of Loi 2016-1321 du 7 octobre 2016 pour une R\u00e9publique num\u00e9rique<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_12').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_12', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Back to the European level, the recently adopted \u2013 but legally non-binding \u2013 European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_13\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_13');\" >[13]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_13\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: <a href=\"https:\/\/digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu\/en\/library\/european-declaration-digital-rights-and-principles\">https:\/\/digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu\/en\/library\/european-declaration-digital-rights-and-principles<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_13').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_13', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, signed by the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament on 23 February 2023, proclaims that \u201cthe digital transformation affects every aspect of people\u2019s lives [and] offers significant opportunities for a better quality of life, economic growth and sustainability\u201d (Recital 2). It therefore calls for a \u201cdigital transformation that leaves nobody behind\u201d (article 2). It does talk about choice, in article 10, but it is limited to a choice in which \u201ceveryone should be able to effectively and freely choose <i>which<\/i> [emphasis added] online services to use\u201d (article 10). Nowhere does it state that participation in the big \u201cDigital Society\u201d should be free, and therefore, that there should be a choice to offline alternatives.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">At an international level, in the field of development and development policy, access to the Internet is seen as an essential growth factor. There is a lot of emphasis on equipment, at all costs, and often without a lot of thought put into the ways in which granting access to IT is done<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_14\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_14');\" >[14]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_14\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: Rossi, Julien. 2017. \u00ab Les enjeux de l\u2019infrastructure num\u00e9rique dans les politiques de d\u00e9veloppement \u00bb. In: Stabilit\u00e9, int\u00e9gration, coop\u00e9ration et d\u00e9veloppement. Szeged, Centre&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_14');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_14').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_14', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Just recently, together with Cl\u00e9ment Perarnaud, Francesca Musiani and Lucien Castex, in a report to the STOA Panel of the European Parliament, we argued that Internet fragmentation could be construed as a restriction to the fundamental right of freedom of expression, as protected under art. 10 ECHR<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_15\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_15');\" >[15]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_15\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Perarnaud, Cl\u00e9ment, Julien Rossi, Francesca Musiani and Lucien Castex. 2022. &#8216;Splinternets&#8217;: Addressing the renewed debate on internet fragmentation. See:&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_15');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_15').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_15', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">So, if it is so important to <i>provide<\/i> access to the Internet (and it is), then why this interest in defending the right <i>not to <\/i>be online?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">First of all, there is no contradiction. Just because the ECHR protects, for example, the right to have children should a couple so desire, it also protects the right <i>not to have<\/i> children should one not desire to have children<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_16\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_16');\" >[16]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_16\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 10 April 2007 \u201cEvans v. UK\u201d 6339\/05<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_16').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_16', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Similarly, just because we should have access to the Internet if we want to does not mean that there is a right from anyone to force us to be offline.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Secondly, a lot of different more-or-less recent events have shed light on harms that may arise from being forced to be online. We will come back to some of them in the last section of this working paper, because they support arguments in favour of a general right to be offline.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">As noted by Anne Bellon (2023)<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_17\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_17');\" >[17]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_17\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Bellon, Anne. 2023. <i>L&#8217;Etat et la Toile: Du d\u00e9veloppement de l&#8217;internet \u00e0 la num\u00e9risation de l&#8217;action publique<\/i>. Vulaines sur Seine, \u00c9ditions du Croquant.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_17').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_17', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, public policy in the field of IT has shifted from supporting the development of Internet infrastructure and services, to the integration of digitisation as part as public administration reforms inspired by the New Public Management paradigm. In practice, this means that \u201cdematerialising\u201d public services is seen as a cost-cutting measure even though, as noted by the French Human Rights Ombudsman (D\u00e9fenseur des Droits), no serious evaluation of the savings generated by this shift<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_18\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_18');\" >[18]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_18\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >D\u00e9fenseur des droits. 2023. D\u00e9mat\u00e9rialisation des services publics : trois ans apr\u00e8s, o\u00f9 en est-on ?.&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_18');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_18').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_18', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. It is likely that, in fact, shifting public services from \u201cbrick-and-mortar\u201d services where citizens can interact with real human beings, to online-only services, has shifted the burden and a lot of the cost of public administration to citizens, and created a lot of discriminatory harms. It is also one of the reasons pointed out by the Arcep-CREDOC report of 2023 on Internet use in France of why people could not imagine living without a computer:<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/arcep-credoc.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-612\" src=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/arcep-credoc.png\" alt=\"Histogramme tir\u00e9 des r\u00e9sultats du derni\u00e8re Barom\u00e8tre du num\u00e9rique Arcep-CREDOC sur la question : quels sont les deux services d'Internet dont vous auriez le plus de mal \u00e0 vous passer ? E-mails : 65%, RSN : 26%, d\u00e9marches administratives : 22%, messagerie instantan\u00e9e : 20%, films et vid\u00e9o en ligne : 15%, sites d'actualit\u00e9 15%, jeux vid\u00e9o en ligne 14% et achats 13%\" width=\"676\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/arcep-credoc.png 676w, http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/arcep-credoc-300x224.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><i>Arcep-CREDOC, 2023, p. 21<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">This means that the state is clearly a contributor to the phenomenon in which, now, more than half of the French population states that they would not be able to spend a whole day without accessing the Internet (Arcep and CREDOC, 2023, p. 235). But beyond the fact that \u2013 we will come back to it in the last section \u2013 feeling addicted and forced to be online may not be such as a nice feeling, there are concrete examples of harms that can be easily documented. We will focus on two kinds of harm: discrimination, and surveillance<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_19\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_19');\" >[19]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_19\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Pervasive surveillance is, in and by itself, harmful, as demonstrated by Adam Moore in: Moore, Adam. 2003. \u201cPrivacy: Its Meaning and Value\u201d, American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 40, nr. 3, pp.&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_19');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_19').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_19', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In 2019, an elderly blind priest was fined 100 \u20ac for boarding the train without a ticket<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_20\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_20');\" >[20]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_20\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.francetvinfo.fr\/economie\/transports\/sncf\/jura-un-pretre-malvoyant-ne-peut-pas-acheter-son-billet-de-train-sur-une-borne-il-ecope-d-une-amende-de-100-euros_3510465.html\">https:\/\/www.francetvinfo.fr\/economie\/transports\/sncf\/jura-un-pretre-malvoyant-ne-peut-pas-acheter-son-billet-de-train-sur-une-borne-il-ecope-d-une-amende-de-100-euros_3510465.html<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_20').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_20', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. There were no open ticket offices nor ticket machines where he had boarded his train, and he was unable to use the railways\u2019 mobile app. The national railway company, owned by the state, had recently decided to stop selling tickets onboard, and when the priest told the conductor he wanted to buy a ticket, the latter told him he had no choice but to fine him. This is a concrete example where forcing somebody who is unable to use a non-accessible application without providing any alternative is clearly discriminatory. In this situation, the harm is that an elderly, visually impaired person is prevented from being able to travel using public transportation.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In 2022, the French government introduced \u201cMon Espace Sant\u00e9\u201d (My Health Space), a new online application giving access in a centralised manner to one\u2019s health data, to be shared with health professionnals needing access to the information. It was supposed to be created based on people\u2019s consent, but the consent mechanism implemented was in fact an opt-out mechanism<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_21\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_21');\" >[21]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_21\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Mokadem, Hakim. 2022. \u201cConsentement, protection des donn\u00e9es\u2026 \u00e0 peine lanc\u00e9, \u201cMon Espace Sant\u00e9\u201d d\u00e9j\u00e0 critiqu\u00e9\u201d. Marianne.&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_21');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_21').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_21', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. More importantly, in relation to this working paper\u2019s topic, as of the 31<sup>st<\/sup> of August 2023, this crucial service was still \u201cpartially non-compliant\u201d with accessibility guidelines:<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-613\" src=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite.png\" alt=\"This screenshot shows that Mon Espace Sant\u00e9 complies only with 75% of the items of the French government's accessibility guidelines.\" width=\"895\" height=\"529\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite.png 895w, http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite-300x177.png 300w, http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite-768x454.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 895px) 100vw, 895px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><i>Screenshot from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monespacesante.fr\/accessibilite\">https:\/\/www.monespacesante.fr\/accessibilite<\/a> taken on the 31<sup>st<\/sup> of August, 2023.<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Once again, the discriminatory consequences of imposing a health data sharing system that is not compliant with accessibility guidelines are quite obvious, and it is baffling to see that the French government blantatly ignores \u2013 without any consequences \u2013 the provisions of article 47 of law nr. 2005-102<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_22\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_22');\" >[22]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_22\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Loi n\u00b0 2005-102 du 11 f\u00e9vrier 2005 pour l&#8217;\u00e9galit\u00e9 des droits et des chances, la participation et la citoyennet\u00e9 des personnes handicap\u00e9es<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_22').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_22', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> creating accessibility obligations for online public services, but also of relevant provisions of the criminal code<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_23\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_23');\" >[23]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_23\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Especially article 225-1 of Criminal Code, which forbids discriminations i.a. on the grounds of their handicap.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_23').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_23', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In an article published in 2021 on research conducted by the French retirement fund (CNAV), Sabrina Aouici and Malorie Peyrache<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_24\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_24');\" >[24]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_24\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Aouici, Sabrina and Malorie Peyrache. 2021. \u201cLe soutien d\u2019un tiers pour limiter le non-recours face \u00e0 l\u2019e-administration : enjeux et limites\u201d, <i>Retraite et soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/i>, nr. 87, pp. 191-202<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_24').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_24', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> point out that the shift to online-only public administration creates a major risk of people, especially elderly people, renouncing their rights or having to rely on the assistance of relatives. They indicate that according to internal data, in 2020, up to 74% of retired people in France are unable to use the Internet to conduct administrative procedures.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In 2022<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_25\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_25');\" >[25]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_25\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >D\u00e9lib\u00e9ration n\u00b0 2022-068 du 9 juin 2022 portant avis sur un projet de d\u00e9cret autorisant la cr\u00e9ation d&#8217;un traitement automatis\u00e9 de donn\u00e9es \u00e0 caract\u00e8re personnel pour le contr\u00f4le de&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_25');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_25').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_25', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) warned the government that forcing pensioners living abroad to use an app to prove their existence was likely to create discriminatory situations. It would, according to the CNIL, create difficulties for about 700 000 people when trying to prove their existence to exercise their right to receive their retirement pension. It therefore insisted on the importance for such an online option to remain an freely chosen option. Based on the study by Aouici et al. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_26\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_26');\" >[26]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_26\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Aouici, Sabrina and Malorie Peyrache. 2021. \u201cLe soutien d\u2019un tiers pour limiter le non-recours face \u00e0 l\u2019e-administration : enjeux et limites\u201d, <i>Retraite et soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/i>, nr. 87, pp. 191-202<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_26').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_26', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, that state that 74% of elderly people find it difficult to use online public services, this figure could be much higher (over 1 million persons would thus be affected).<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Another example of widespread discrimination was, in the field of education, when classes went fully online during the Covid pandemic, despite the fact that, as previously mentioned, studies such as the one conducted by Arsep and CREDOC (2023) point out wide social inequalities in access to IT equipment.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">But illegimate discrimination is not the only negative outcome of forced digitisation. Another one is widespread surveillance. Indeed, there are a lot of example where public authorities are forcing people to use technologies that snoop on their users. Let\u2019s unpack a few examples.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The EU\u2019s eCall Regulation<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_27\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_27');\" >[27]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_27\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Regulation (EU) 2015\/758 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 concerning type-approval requirements for the deployment of the eCall in-vehicle system based on the 112&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_27');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_27').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_27', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, discussed by Karaboga et al. (2017), creates an obligation for vehicles sold after 31 March 2018 to be equipped with geolocating equipment able to call emergency services if an incident occurs. This is undoubtedly a very useful safety mechanism, but it does mean that all modern cars now have on-board geolocation capabilities. Even if these are strictly regulated by the eCall regulation, they provide a base upon which one could imagine the future deployment of surveillance capabilities, should such restrictions be relaxed in the future. Recently, the Mozilla Foundation alerted about the pretention modern cars have to collect and process all kind of data, including health and sexual data<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_28\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_28');\" >[28]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_28\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See here: <a href=\"https:\/\/foundation.mozilla.org\/fr\/privacynotincluded\/articles\/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy\/\">https:\/\/foundation.mozilla.org\/fr\/privacynotincluded\/articles\/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy\/<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_28').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_28', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In Budapest \u2013 just as, presumably, a growing number of cities \u2013 people have the option (for now) to buy tickets for local public transportation using mobile apps. While, in the past, it was possible to buy paper tickets anonymously, it is now compulsory to create a user profile before buying a ticket on BudapestGO. Furthermore, this application can only be used with Android or iOS. This means that one must have the means to buy a smarphone equipped with a modern version of those operating systems. It also means that users are forced to accept the personal data processing practices of Google and Apple. As shown by conclusions reached in the past by some data protection authorities<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_29\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_29');\" >[29]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_29\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See, for Google: CNIL, D\u00e9lib\u00e9ration SAN-2019-001 du 21 janvier 2019, and Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat 19 juin 2020, Google contre CNIL, nr. 430810<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_29').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_29', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, such practices do not always fully comply with applicable data protection law\u2026 Similar things can be said in France, in relation to access to public railway services from railway stations no longer equipped with physical ticket selling points.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Another very hot topic, very well discussed by Brett Scott in <i>Cloudmoney<\/i><span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_30\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_30');\" >[30]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_30\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Scott, Brett. 2022. <i>Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto and the War for our Wallets<\/i>. Bodley Head.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_30').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_30', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, is the forced disappearance of cash. In France, refusing to accept legal tender cash in exchange for goods of services is actually a minor criminal offense, defined in article R642-3 of the Criminal Code. There are exceptions. For instance, in most cases, it is no longer legal to pay more than 1000 \u20ac cash in France<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_31\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_31');\" >[31]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_31\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Article D112-3 of the Code mon\u00e9taire et financier.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_31').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_31', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Yet, for some reason, some cafeterias owned by the public student service agency (CROUS) in France refuse cash, and only accept credit cards or a special \u201cIzly\u201d electronic payment method. Izly \u2013 which is operated by S-Money, a subsidiary of Natixis, a major private bank \u2013 is a system in which each university user (students and staff) receive a card and an account that they can top up. It also comes with a mobile application, which has been denounced in 2017 by journalists who showed it was illegally snooping on student location data for advertising purposes<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_32\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_32');\" >[32]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_32\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Untersinger, Martin. 20 October 2017. \u201cIzly, l\u2019appli du Cnous qui g\u00e9olocalise des \u00e9tudiants et renseigne des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s publicitaires\u201d, Le Monde,&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_32');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_32').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_32', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">All of these public policy actions aimed at encouraging digitisation creates an environment where people are strongly incenticised in buying up-to-date digital equipment. This includes so-called \u201csmart\u201d devices which are able to record and transmit data, and may even be remotely activated. Privacy International has, for a while, strongly opposed the use of what they call \u201cgovernment hacking\u201d in which states \u2013 often illegally \u2013 gain access to people\u2019s devices for a variety of reasons<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_33\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_33');\" >[33]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_33\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See their working paper: <a href=\"https:\/\/privacyinternational.org\/long-read\/84\/why-we-are-so-concerned-about-government-hacking-surveillance\">https:\/\/privacyinternational.org\/long-read\/84\/why-we-are-so-concerned-about-government-hacking-surveillance<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_33').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_33', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. The Pegasus scandal was a prime example of governments using off-the-shelf software from private companies to hack into people\u2019s devices without their knowledge. This has been used in Hungary against journalists, and in Spain against politicians. It has also been used by thriving democracies like Saudi Arabia, which used it to spy on Jamal Kashoggi\u2019s family<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_34\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_34');\" >[34]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_34\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >see: Manach, Jean-Marc. 2021. \u201cNSO : Pegasus aurait aussi espionn\u00e9 le t\u00e9l\u00e9phone de la femme du journaliste assassin\u00e9 Khashoggi\u201d, Next-Impact,&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_34');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_34').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_34', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. In effect, this means that some European governments have co-funded (by buying it) spying technology used by authoritarian regimes. But, more to the point for this working paper, this kind of spying technique can only work if people willingly equip themselves with devices that can be accessed remotely.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">It is exactly this kind of technique that the French government wants to legalise \u2013 albeit with a few safeguards, such as the compulsory involvement of the judiciary \u2013 by allowing the \u201cremote activation\u201d of devices<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_35\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_35');\" >[35]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_35\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See article 3 of Projet de loi d\u2019orientation et de programmation du minist\u00e8re de la justice 2023 \u2013 2027; as of August 31, 2023, this bill was still under negociation between the National&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_35');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_35').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_35', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">All of this shows that forcing the adoption and the use of IT is indeed likely to generate harms, at least in terms of discrimination and surveillance. Is there, in positive law (at least in France, or based on ECtHR case law), anything resembling a right to be offline? In other words, can I refuse to use an online service? Can I ditch my smartphone, cancel my Internet access plan, and pledge an oath never to use a computer ever again? Not that I, personnally, would want to (computers are way too much fun to tinker with), but could I, at least in theory?<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"western\">Is There a Right to Be Offline&#8230;<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">To answer the questions put forward just above, I believe it is necessary to distinguish between two cases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">can I opt-out from technology that is \u2013 as is often the case in practice \u2013 non-compliant with one kind of legal norm or another (let\u2019s say, to take an easy one, data protection law)?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">can I refuse the use of an online service or device <i>even if<\/i> the said service or device is fully compliant with all applicable law?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">In this case, as we shall see, this may depend on whether or not can I <i>can<\/i> actually use the device based on personal circonstances. Or if I can just refuse for the heck of it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\">Let\u2019s begin with the first one, because it\u2019s an easy one.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"western\">&#8230;In a Non-Compliant IT Environment?<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">What kind of laws does IT software and hardware often infringe? As we have seen, accessibility guidelines, even when mandatory, are not always respected. Furthermore, given that this is just a working paper and that nobody is going to ask me to reduce the length of my article while at the same time support my claims to the obvious in order to be published<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_36\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_36');\" >[36]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_36\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >I am complaining, but I do believe that there is value in the peer-review process. I am just enjoying the freedom that comes with publishing a mere bunch of unscientific thoughts to my own personal&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_36');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_36').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_36', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, let us just all admit that most commercial software that even public services rely on just does not comply with data protection law. We will examine both. There may be other laws that would be worth examining. Maybe consumer law? Or environmental law? For simplicity\u2019s sake, I will just focus on these two because they are sufficient in demonstrating that there <i>is<\/i>, in practice, given the prevalence of non-compliant IT products, a right to an offline alternative.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\">Accessibility and Non-Discrimination<\/h3>\n<p align=\"justify\">In 2021, the French government adopted a Decree and two orders<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_37\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_37');\" >[37]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_37\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >D\u00e9cret nr. 2021-313 of 24 March 2021, Arr\u00eat\u00e9 du 27 avril 2021 pris en application de l&#8217;article R. 431-2 du code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_37');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_37').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_37', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, which forced foreigners wishing to apply for residency to apply using an online procedure. Several NGOs referred these decisions to the State Council, asking for the invalidation of that decision.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In a key decision adopted in 2022<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_38\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_38');\" >[38]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_38\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 3 June 2022, decision nr. 452798, Conseil national des barreaux et autres<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_38').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_38', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, the State Council ruled that there was no constitutional provision forbidding the executive from forcing the use of an online procedure, nor was there any rule stating that it could only do so when explicitly authorised by an act of Parliament. Furthermore, the French supreme judges of the administrative order did not find any supranational norm, not even article 14 of the ECHR on the principle of non-discrimination, to forbid, <i>in principle<\/i>, the government from forcing people to use online services to complete administrative procedures (\u00a78 of the decision). It did, however, indicate that such a general obligation could only be legal \u201c<i>under the condition that public service users are allowed normal access and able to exercise their rights<\/i>\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_39\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_39');\" >[39]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_39\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Translated from French. Original text: \u201c\u00e0 la condition de permettre l&#8217;acc\u00e8s normal des usagers au service public et de garantir aux personnes concern\u00e9es l&#8217;exercice effectif de leurs&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_39');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_39').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_39', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> This means that the government has to provide \u201csupport for people who do not possess the necessary digital equipment or experience difficulties in their use or in the accomplishment of administrative procedures\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_40\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_40');\" >[40]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_40\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >\u201cun accompagnement les personnes qui ne disposent pas d&#8217;un acc\u00e8s aux outils num\u00e9riques ou qui rencontrent des difficult\u00e9s soit dans leur utilisation, soit dans l&#8217;accomplissement des&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_40');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_40').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_40', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> (\u00a710 of the decision). This can mean that the state <i>has to<\/i> provide an alternative solution \u201cfor cases where certain users would find it impossible to use the online procedure despite this support, due to reasons arising from the design of the tool or its functioning\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_41\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_41');\" >[41]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_41\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >\u201c[\u2026] pour le cas o\u00f9 certains demandeurs se heurteraient, malgr\u00e9 cet accompagnement, \u00e0 l&#8217;impossibilit\u00e9 de recourir au t\u00e9l\u00e9service pour des raisons tenant \u00e0 la conception de cet outil&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_41');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_41').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_41', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> (\u00a710 of the decision).<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In this case, the government\u2019s decision to impose the use of an online procedure for residency permit applicants was deemed illegal by the State Council, because, at the time it adopted its decisions, it had provided neither support nor alternative solutions for people who, due to their individual circumstances and the design of the digital tool, were unable to complete the online procedure (\u00a711 and 12 of the decision).<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Given that, at the time of conducting my exploratory research<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_42\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_42');\" >[42]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_42\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >This part was written on Sept. 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 2023<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_42').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_42', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, the website where foreigners can apply for residency in France was still only about 60% compliant with accessibility standards, we may safely conclude that the state has to provide online alternatives at least to people who are unable to use the service because of this non-compliance.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-614\" src=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite2.png\" alt=\"Screenshot showing that the website where foreigners can apply for residency in France complies with only 60.60% of accessibility guideline items.\" width=\"1099\" height=\"689\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite2.png 1099w, http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite2-300x188.png 300w, http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite2-768x481.png 768w, http:\/\/www.julienrossi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/accessibilite2-1024x642.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1099px) 100vw, 1099px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><i>Screenshot taken from <a href=\"https:\/\/administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr\/particuliers\/#\/declaration-conformite-rgaa\">https:\/\/administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr\/particuliers\/#\/declaration-conformite-rgaa<\/a> on Sept. 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 2023.<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Finally, in its 2022 opinion on the government\u2019s project to allow recipients of French state pensions to prove their existence using an online application, the CNIL (2022) pointed out that the Ministry of Health should provide an information to users telling them that this is just an option, and that there are offline alternatives that they can use, should they be unable to use the app<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_43\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_43');\" >[43]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_43\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >\u201c[\u2026] elle invite le minist\u00e8re \u00e0 faire appara\u00eetre explicitement dans le projet de d\u00e9cret le caract\u00e8re facultatif du recours au dispositif ainsi que l&#8217;information annuelle des personnes&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_43');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_43').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_43', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\">Data Protection<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Another area where a lot of software does not comply with the law is personal data protection. The right to the protection of personal data derives from article 8 of the ECHR on the right to privacy, and it is protected as a distinct right under article 8 of the EU\u2019s Charter of Fundamental Rights (hereinafter: the Charter). Under French law, it derives from article 2 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_44\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_44');\" >[44]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_44\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: Cons. const., 23 July 1999, nr. 99-416 DC.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_44').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_44', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Its pratical provisions are laid down in the EU\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in the regularly updated 1978 French Informatics and Freedom Act<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_45\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_45');\" >[45]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_45\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Loi n\u00b0 78-17 du 6 janvier 1978.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_45').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_45', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> To avoid making this already lengthy working paper even lengthier, I will not go into details of why I contend that most software used on an everyday basis is non-compliant. The Google Android and Izly cases, which were previously cited, are, in my opinion, sufficient illustrations.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Does data protection law provide for a right to be offline, when there is no compliant online service available for a given purpose?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The answer given by Karaboga and al. (2017) is that \u201c[\u2026] whereas we do not, cannot have a right to lead a non-digital life in contemporary society, still we have a right to offline alternatives \u2013 precisely because we cannot claim a right live within our socio-technical networks without fallying pray to them\u201d (Karaboga et al., 2017, p. 43). This is a rather convoluted answer. I believe that, here, based on data protection law, when there is no compliant solution, the answer is very clearly a resounding yes.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">There are two reasons for this.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">First of all, as reminded by Karaboga et al. (2017), \u201cin a world of automated data processing, being offline is the most genuine form of the right to respect of private life with regard to data protection [\u2026]. So to speak, it is the \u2018default setting\u2019. Any changes to the \u2018default\u2019 need justification.\u201d (Karaboga et al., 2017, p. 43). Indeed, two of the key principles of data protection, as provided in article 5 of the GDPR and in other international instruments, such Convention 108 of the Council of Europe, are data minimisation and purpose limitation, which, in a nutshell, can me summarised as a mandate to respect the principle of proportionality (De Marco, 2018)<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_46\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_46');\" >[46]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_46\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >De Marco, Estelle. 2018. <i>Comparative study between directive 95\/46\/EC &amp; the GDPR including their relations to fundamental rights<\/i>. Deliverable D2.10, project INFORM, JUST-JTRA-EJTR-AG-2016<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_46').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_46', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">According to such a principle, a data controller<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_47\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_47');\" >[47]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_47\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >A data controller is a person or a set of persons acting as joint controllers who determine the means and ends of a data processing operation.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_47').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_47', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> must always prefer the least-invasive solution, or at least provide it as an alternative to a more data-hungry offer which can proposed to a data subject<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_48\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_48');\" >[48]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_48\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >User in data-protection-speak.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_48').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_48', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> because, for example, it is more convenient. In cases where a given processing operation, like a new online public procedure, may, if incorrectly implemented, have consequences for the rights and freedoms of natural persons, then there is an obligation to conduct a data protection impact assessment. In its previously cited 2022 opinion on a proposed application to allow recipients of French state pensions living abroad to prove their existence, the CNIL found several shortcomings in the Ministry of Health\u2019s impact assessment, in particular with regards to this proportionality aspect.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">In the example of payment at French public university cafeterias with the privately operated Izly system, which used to snoop on student location data through a mobile app for targeted advertisement purposes, we have a clear example of a processing operation which, especially in the absence of an offline solution, is disproportionate. Even choosing to pay using a credit card instead of the Izly system creates more personal data collection than an offline method. Indeed, when one pays for coffee using cash, the bank \u2013 and all the other payment intermedieries \u2013 do not collect this information. Therefore, forcing people to use either the Izly system or a credit card means forcing people to provide more data to different controllers than is strictly necessary, by comparison to a perfectly usable and practical non-digital solution, that the law, in France, as we have seen, supposedly guarantees. Generally speaking, the pervasiveness of data collected for advertisement purposes creates a lot of security issues<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_49\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_49');\" >[49]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_49\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: Olejnik, Lukasz, Tran Minh-Dung and Claude Castelluccia, 2013. \u201cSelling Off Privacy at Auction\u201d, \uffffhal-00915249\uffff, <a href=\"https:\/\/inria.hal.science\/hal-00915249\/document\">https:\/\/inria.hal.science\/hal-00915249\/document<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_49').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_49', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> which appears to be exploited by intelligence agencies from nondemocratic countries<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_50\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_50');\" >[50]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_50\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Benjakob, Omer. 2023 \u201cRevealed: Israeli Cyber Firms Have Developed an &#8216;Insane&#8217; New Spyware Tool. No Defense Exists\u201d, Haaretz, 14 Sept.&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_50');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_50').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_50', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">It should however be noted that just because a procedure or a service is offered online does not mean that it collects more data than necessary, or more data than an offline alternative. However, often, such services rely on an underlying technical architecture that is not necessarily compliant with all other data protection requirements.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">This is the case, for example, when one is forced to buy a transportation ticket using an app that runs only on given operating systems, when those operating systems do not comply with data protection law. As we have seen, in France, Google was fined 50 million euros in 2019 for failure to obtain valid consent for ad targeting purposes through its mobile operating system<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_51\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_51');\" >[51]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_51\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" ><span lang=\"en-GB\">CNIL, D\u00e9lib\u00e9ration SAN-2019-001 du 21 janvier 2019, and Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat 19 juin 2020, Google contre CNIL, nr. 430810<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_51').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_51', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">W<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">hen a service provider chooses to provide an application, which use is more or less compulsory, such as when attempting to buy a train ticket at a small, unmanned railway station in rural France, with no ticket vending machines, and which only runs on a given operating system, then it is easy to argue that the said service provider becomes a joint controller of the processing of personal data conducted by the said operating system. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Indeed, the European Union\u2019s Court of Justice (ECJ) has already ruled that a website owner including Facebook functionalities, or the owner of a Facebook page, were joint controllers with Facebook, because they took part in determining the means and ends of the processing operations<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_52\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_52');\" >[52]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_52\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECJ 5 June 2018 Unabh\u00e4ngiges Landeszentrum f\u00fcr Datenschutz Schleswig-Holstein contre Wirtschaftsakademie Schleswig-Holstein GmbH, C-210\/16; ECJ 29 July 2019 Fashion ID GmbH &amp; Co.KG contre&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_52');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_52').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_52', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">I<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">n such a circumstance, it should be noted that data subjects (users) acquire a right to object to the processing of their personal data, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">based on article 21 of the GDPR. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">If, when the user objects, he or she is barred, for example, from using public transport, this would defeat the meaning and purpose of this article in the GDPR. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Moreover, it would contradict the principle laid out in article L1111-1 of the Transporation Code, according to which \u201cthe organisation of transporation on the whole territory must satisfy the needs of users and make effective everyone\u2019s right to move around freely and to choose one\u2019s means of transportation, including for those whose mobility is reduced or who suffer from a handicap\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_53\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_53');\" >[53]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_53\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >\u201cL&#8217;organisation des mobilit\u00e9s sur l&#8217;ensemble du territoire doit satisfaire les besoins des usagers et rendre effectifs le droit qu&#8217;a toute personne, y compris celle dont la&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_53');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_53').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_53', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Finally, because it would force certain people into using a system that disregards their fundamental right to the protection of personal data, it could fall under provisions laid out in the Criminal code, on the violation of that right<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_54\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_54');\" >[54]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_54\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See articles 226-16 to 226-24 of the Criminal Code.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_54').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_54', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> or on violations of individual freedom by public authorities<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_55\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_55');\" >[55]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_55\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See articles 432-4 to 432-6 of the Criminal Code.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_55').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_55', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Therefore, at least based on combined EU and French national law, a public transport company may not force people into using an application which can only be used if its user agrees to use software that does not comply with data protection law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">I<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">f the transporter \u2013 or any other service provider, for that matter \u2013 is a private person, then, still <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">refusing to sell<\/span> <span lang=\"en-GB\">a consumer a good or a service for an illegitimate reason (like the refusal to use non-compliant software) is forbidden according to the Consumption Code<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_56\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_56');\" >[56]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_56\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See its article L121-11.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_56').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_56', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">I<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">n the above case<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">s<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, however, the burden of the proof would lie, in practice, on the data subject, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">notwithstanding the fact that<\/span> <span lang=\"en-GB\">article 24 (1) of the GDPR provides that it is up to the (joint) data controller(s) to prove compliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">As a final sidenote, it may also be that forcing people to buy software from only two providers, instead of providing free and cross-platform online public services, could be construed as illegal state aid and\/or as some infringement on competition law, but I lack expertise on this topic and \u2013 as stated in the introduction \u2013 this is a mere working paper which does not pretend being the fruit of any serious research project (rather, it aims at providing some kind of starting point).<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"western\">&#8230;In a (Somewhat Utopian) Compliant IT Environment?<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">A<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ccording to Karaboga et al. (2017), \u201cusing a positivist approach, it could be concluded that, at European level, there is no effective \u2018right to remain offline\u2019.\u201d (Karaboga et al., 2017, p. 43).<\/span> <span lang=\"en-GB\">I would tend to agree. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">We have seen that, at least based on non-discrimination law and on data protection law, there is no <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><i>general<\/i><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> right to an offline alternative, unless in the presence of specific circumstances, such as the absence of a compliant solution <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">to perform a certain task. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">The French State Council recently called in one of its report for the recognition of a right for public service users to revert to a non-digital alternative to digital public services, and for the systematic existence of such offline alternatives<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_57\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_57');\" >[57]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_57\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 2023. \u201c12 propositions pour r\u00e9ussir le dernier km de l\u2019action publique\u201d, 2023 Anunal Study,&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_57');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_57').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_57', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> In an earlier case, the same Court had ruled that trade union membership could not be compulsory, given that article 11 of the ECHR also encompasses a \u201cnegative right of association\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_58\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_58');\" >[58]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_58\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 30 June 1993, Sigur\u00f0ur A. Sigurj\u00f3nsson v. Iceland, 16130\/90, \u00a735<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_58').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_58', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. But he also found counter-examples, such as a case where the ECtHR ruled that one did not have a right to refuse buying a school uniform where such a dress code is mandated<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_59\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_59');\" >[59]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_59\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 3 March 1986, Stevens v. United-Kingdom, 11674\/85<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_59').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_59', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Could there be, against this background, a general right not to be online, derived from the ECHR?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">I<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">f a general right to be offline were to be derived from existing positive law, it would be, in my opinion, most likely to be found in the right to privacy. Indeed, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">the right to privacy <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">can embrace multiple aspects of the person\u2019s physical and social identity\u201d<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_60\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_60');\" >[60]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_60\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 4 December 2008,S. and Marper v. the United Kingdom, 30562\/04 and 30566\/04, \u00a766)). Furthermore, \u201cin general terms, it secures to the individual a sphere within which he can freely pursue the&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_60');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_60').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_60', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">It includes the right to personal development and to develop contacts with other human beings. It is also linked to the concept of human dignity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">H<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">owever, if I were to play the devil\u2019s advocate, I could argue that \u2013 although I do not know of any serious study establishing this as a fact \u2013 switching to online services is more cost-effective, and that there therefore is a public interest to enforce online-only rules in certain circumstances. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Although it is much harder to hide a stash of cash and gold bars than it is to hide bitcoins, it has also often been said that the fight against cash helps combat money laundering and similar ailments. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Therefore, this would constitute a legitimate interest to limit one\u2019s right to be offline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">And indeed, restrictions placed on the right to privacy can at times perfectly be deemed proportionate (or \u201cnecessary in a democratic society\u201d to use ECtHR jargon). For example, let\u2019s take the right to choose one\u2019s appearance. At times, restrictions on this right have been ruled unnecessary. This was the case in a ruling on Lithuania\u2019s ban on growing beards in prison<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_61\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_61');\" >[61]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_61\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 14 June 2016, Bir\u017eietis v. Lithuania, 49304\/09, \u00a7\u00a7 54 and 57-58<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_61').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_61', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Indeed, in this case, the \u201cCourt consider[ed] that the applicant\u2019s decision on whether or not to grow a beard was related to the expression of his personality and individual identity, protected by Article 8 of the Convention, and that the Government has failed to demonstrate the existence of a pressing social need to justify an absolute prohibition on him growing a beard while he was in prison\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_62\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_62');\" >[62]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_62\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >\u00a758 of the above case.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_62').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_62', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. In SAS versus France, the Court has ruled that \u201ccriminalisation of the wearing of a full-face veil is a measure which is disproportionate to the aim of protecting the idea of \u201cliving together\u201d \u2013 an aim which cannot readily be reconciled with the Convention\u2019s restrictive catalogue of grounds for interference with basic human rights&#8221;<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_63\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_63');\" >[63]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_63\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 1st July 2014 SAS v France, 43835\/11, \u00a725<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_63').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_63', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. However, in a case brought by Gough against the United Kingdom, the Court did not rule that there was a right to appear naked wherever one wants to<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_64\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_64');\" >[64]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_64\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >\u201cArticle 8 cannot be taken to protect every conceivable personal choice in that domain: there must presumably be a de minimis level of seriousness as to the choice of desired appearance in&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_64');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_64').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_64', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>).<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">State surveillance<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_65\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_65');\" >[65]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_65\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See i.a. ECtHR 2 September 2009, Uzun v. Germany, 35623\/05<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_65').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_65', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> or even surveillance by employers<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_66\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_66');\" >[66]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_66\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 22 February 2018, Libert contre France, 588\/13<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_66').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_66', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> have also, at times, been ruled as both necessary and proportionate.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Furthermore, to be ruled as a violation of the Convention, an infringement has to reach a certain degree of seriousness. In Diana Vu\u010dina versus Croatia, for example,<span lang=\"en-GB\"> the <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">C<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ourt ruled that\u00a0: \u201c<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">although <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">[it]<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> accept<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">[ed]<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> that the erroneous placement of the name of the Mayor\u2019s wife next to her photograph might have caused some distress to the applicant, the level of seriousness associated with that erroneous labelling of her photograph and the inconvenience that she suffered do not give rise to an issue \u2013 neither in the context of the protection of her image nor her honour and reputation (see paragraph 31 above) \u2013 under Article 8 of the Convention\u201d<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_67\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_67');\" >[67]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_67\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 24 September 2009, Diana Vu\u010dina v. Croatia, 58955\/13, \u00a750)).\nIs the obligation to live online such a hard obligation that one \u2013 irrespective of one\u2019s personal situation \u2013 should have a&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_67');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_67').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_67', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">the right to apply for adoption<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_68\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_68');\" >[68]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_68\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR 17 January 2021,.H. and others versus Russia, nr. 6033\/13, 8927\/13, 10549\/13, 12275\/13, 23890\/13, 26309\/13, 27161\/13, 29197\/13, 32224\/13, 32331\/13, 32351\/13, 32368\/13, 37173\/13, 38490\/13,&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_68');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_68').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_68', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, reproductive rights \u2013 including the right not to have children<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_69\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_69');\" >[69]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_69\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 10 April 2007, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Evans <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">v UK, 6339\/05<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_69').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_69', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> but only going as far as to cover abortion for health reasons<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_70\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_70');\" >[70]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_70\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 20 March 2007, Tysi<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u0105<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">c v. Poland, <\/span><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">5410\/03, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a7107; <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 16 December 2010, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">A B C v Ireland, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">25579\/05 <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a7214<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_70').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_70', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, sexual orientation and sexual life<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_71\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_71');\" >[71]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_71\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 22 October 1981, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Dudgeon <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">v UK<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, 7525\/76<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_71').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_71', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, and even the right to beg given that it can constitute a requirement to exercise one\u2019s right to ask other people for help<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_72\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_72');\" >[72]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_72\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 19 January 2021, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Lacatus v. Switzerland<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">,<\/span> <span lang=\"en-GB\">14065\/15<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_72').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_72', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. This list is far from complete<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_73\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_73');\" >[73]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_73\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >If one would like a more complete account, based on comparative law, of what the right to privacy covers, I would highly recommend Koops, Bert-Jaap, Bryce Clayton Newell, Tjerk Timan, Ivan&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_73');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_73').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_73', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">but I believe it shows how the right to be offline could fit in. It is a right to make a personal decision about how one wants to live within the boundaries of the private sphere, and on how to connect with others. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Furthermore, being deprived of certain opportunities, such as access to essential public services, would go against the principles of dignity of the human being, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">to which the concept of privacy is strongly related<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_74\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_74');\" >[74]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_74\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >For a philosophical account, see: Whitman, James Q.. 2004. \u201cThe Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty\u201d, Yale Law Journal, vol. 113, nr. 6, pp. 1151-1221. For a reference to&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_74');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_74').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_74', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">T<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">o my knowledge \u2013 and based on a quick scan of what little I could find in extant literature \u2013 the ECtHR has never had to rule on the existence of a right to be offline, or of a right to be provided offline alternatives. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">However, we may deduce that there is some protection based on the right to privacy based on the following reasoning <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">and existing case law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The Lacatus case provides a relevant blueprint. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">In this case, the Court ruled that the applicant, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">who was illiterate and came from a very poor background, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">could not be deprived from the right to beg as that would <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">seriously compromise her means of survival, thereby impact her dignity<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_75\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_75');\" >[75]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_75\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR, Lacatus case, \u00a756.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_75').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_75', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> The Strasbourg judges also declared that the notion of privacy covers a right to personal development<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_76\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_76');\" >[76]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_76\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >ECtHR, Lacatus case, \u00a755.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_76').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_76', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">H<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">owever, it should be noted that in this ruling, the Court emphasised the particular situation of the applicant. It did not rule that there is a general right to beg on the streets. But there is a protection for people who, given their personal circumstances, do not have any other means of preserving their survival and some level of personal dignity <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">and accomplishment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Applying this reasoning to previously discussed examples <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">related to the right to be offline<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">The fine imposed on the blind priest who was unable to buy a ticket online and was not offered any alternative would probably be a violation of articles 8 and 14 ECHR.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">If pensioners living abroad were not offered alternatives to an online service to prove their existence and keep receiving a state pension which they rely on to survive, this would most likely also be a violation of these two articles of the Convention.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\">If the State Council had not ruled that foreigners wishing to apply in France should be offered an offline alternative if their personal circumstances and the design of the online application form make it impossible for them to complete the procedure, there would probably also have been an infringement, most likely of both articles at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">obligation to pay using either Izly or credit card to buy a coffee at a university cafeteria in France is something that is not even provided for by law (given that stores have to accept cash unless the law states otherwise), but whether this potential violation of the right to privacy would reach the necessary threshold of seriousness, given that it does not, in practice, prevent one from buying coffee or snacks elsewhere, is debatable.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">T<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">here would probably be a violation if a person, due to her or his personal circumstances, was unable to secure an electronic payment account, lived in a cashless society, and would therefore be completely unable to buy any good or service or receive any form of payment or <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">alms.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">S<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">imilar conclusions could be drawn for people who are unable to afford a computer, unless the state provides access to devices that they can use.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\">So, having tried to find cases in ECtHR case law that could provide a blueprint on how to examine cases were one is forced to use an online service, I would contend that, at least from the perspective of the right to privacy (combined with the right to non-discrimination) there <i>is<\/i> a right for an offline alternative, but it is mainly a right in dealings with public authorities or public services, and it is only afforded to people who are in a situation in which they are unable to access or use the Internet.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">If we look beyond ECHR law, we can find some sectorial rules that allow offline alternatives. Although it is not consistently applied, French law does provide for a right to pay cash, at least, in most cases, under 1000\u20ac. In Austria, federal chancellor Karl Nehammer has proposed the inclusion of a right to physical cash in the federal constitution<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_77\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_77');\" >[77]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_77\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >H\u00fclsemann, Laura. 2023. Aug. 4. \u201cAustrian chancellor: Right to use cash should be in constitution\u201d, Politico Europe,&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_77');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_77').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_77', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Back in France, we also have a \u201cright to be offline\u201d with regards to office duties, which have recently been introduced in the Labour Code<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_78\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_78');\" >[78]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_78\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Article L2242-17 7\u00b0 of the Labour Code.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_78').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_78', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. And we have thus seen that the combination of both non-discrimination and privacy law can create individual situations in which there is a right to an offline alternative.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">But the main conclusion of all of this is that, especially in cases of digital services that are fully compliant with all existing legal obligations, <u>there is simply no general right to be offline in current positive law<\/u>.<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"western\">Why? What is the Value of a Right to Be Offline?<\/h1>\n<p align=\"justify\">So, should there be a right to be offline? And should it be a separate right from the already long list of fundamental rights that we already enjoy?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">There are good reasons to avoid creating new fundamental rights. It can be confusing. Having too many may also create a system that becomes too rigid, and unable to adapt to changes in society. German constitutional provisions have at times been criticised for being too strict on monetary policy<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_79\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_79');\" >[79]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_79\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Like when the German Federal Constitutional Tribunal ruled, in 2020, that the European Central Bank\u2019s Public Sector Purchase Programme was illegal, in BVerfG 5 May 2020 2 BvR 859\/15, 2 BvR 980\/16,&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_79');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_79').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_79', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> or unable to properly adapt to the need for independent supervisory authorities, for example in the field of personal data protection<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_80\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_80');\" >[80]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_80\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: ECJ 9 March 2010, European Commission v. Federal Republic of Germany, C-518\/07<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_80').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_80', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. It can dilute protection, when some fundamental rights are already not necessarily sufficiently taken seriously. One may also be easily accused of trying to constitutionalise partisan political preferences. Finally, fundamental right instruments are \u201cliving instruments\u201d and their interpretation can be adapted to new situations. The fact that the ancient right to freedom of information covers the right to access to a still fairly recent technology such as the Internet is a good example of this<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_81\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_81');\" >[81]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_81\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >On this, see: De Hert, Paul and Dariusz Kloza, 2012. \u201cInternet (access) as a new fundamental right. Inflating the current rights framework?\u201d, European Journal of Law and Technology, vol. 3, nr.&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_81');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_81').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_81', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">But there is no guarantee that any of the rights in the ECHR, or in the EU\u2019s Charter, or in national constitutional instruments, will be interpreted in a way that amounts to the emergence of a full, unconditional right to be offline. Where one may be free to live without computers, far from the \u201cdigital life\u201d and its tribulations, for as frivolous a reason as \u201cfor the heck of it.\u201d So I do believe that this is a case where a new right needs to be created, at least in doctrinal writings, so that one day it may become law either through statutory decisions or, indeed, through living constitutional case law.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">But why should there be a right to be offline \u201cjust for the heck of it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">There can be many reasons. First, we need to look at why such a right may be useful, or inferred from some classical moral philosophy doctrines. Then we need to examine why this right must exist even \u201cjust for the heck of it.\u201d In both cases, I will look at it from a personal perspective, and express opinions that do not have any pretention at scientificity. They serve an exploratory purpose into the value of a putative right to be offline.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">An easy justification \u2013 that would absolutely not work in France\u2019s secular legal system \u2013 is religion. Using electric power is forbidden during Shabbat for practicing Jews. Amish and Old Believer Orthodox Christians are examples of communities that shun modern technology for religious reasons. I am unfamiliar with their theology, but I do believe that religious freedoms are important. We have lived with offline services forever \u2013 or at least for as long as there has been a humanity. Because infinite growth in a finite world<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_82\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_82');\" >[82]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_82\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: Latouche, Serge. 2012. <i>L\u2019\u00e2ge des limites<\/i>. 1001 Nuits.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_82').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_82', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> is impossible, I do not believe that, on the long term, it is a valid argument to state that individuals should forsake important values (like their religious beliefs) for the sake of economic growth. So even if it were to be proven that going all-digital makes us save money collectively, or that it generates economic growth, I would tend to reject that argument as being completely moot in the face of fundamental values like religious tolerance. As such, even in France, I do not believe that we should reject Amish tourists just because they refuse to use a credit card or a smartphone.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Another justification lies in line with traditions based on privacy as dignity (Whitman, 2004). We have seen many examples where, given special circumstances like old age or poverty, one could not access digital technology, and excluding them from society for this reason would be both wrong and, at least in this case, actually illegal. But I feel like there is an argument to be made from the fact that humans crave certain interactions and have certain needs (such as survival) even without any technical artefacts. Furthermore, being undocumented is now considered such a problem that people who do not have a citizenship enjoy certain protections under the 1954 New York Convention. Legal death is no longer an acceptable criminal punishment. So why should people suffer similar penalties just for refusing to use computers, even if it is just \u201cfor the heck of it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Because a full definition of dignity is \u2013 sort of the <i>jus cogens<\/i> of international law \u2013 a sort of Holy Grail that everyone tries to find but where reaching a full consensus is difficult<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_83\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_83');\" >[83]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_83\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Some people will say that this is true with privacy as well. See: Mulligan, Deirdre K., Colin Koopman and Nick Doty. 2016. \u201cPrivacy is an essentially contested concept: a multi-dimensional analytic&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_83');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_83').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_83', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, I tend to prefer utilitarian arguments that derive fundamental rights from a principle of utility which I find easier to support.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_84\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_84');\" >[84]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_84\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Brandeis, Louis and Samuel Warren. 1890. \u201cThe Right to Privacy\u201d, <i>Harvard Law Review<\/i>, vol. 4, nr. 5, pp. 193\u2013220<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_84').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_84', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> famously defined privacy as a \u201cright to be let alone.\u201d It is rather safe to assume that anyone has experienced the feeling where one wants to shout \u201cjust leave me alone!\u201d at someone, or, at times, at something. This thing can be a smartphone. In the frame of the Adoprivacy<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_85\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_85');\" >[85]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_85\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Adoprivacy is a research project coordinated by Prof. Dr. Sophie Jehel, and funded by the D\u00e9fenseur des droits and the INJEP. See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adoprivacy.fr\/\">https:\/\/www.adoprivacy.fr\/<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_85').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_85', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> research project, I have talked with a few French teenagers and educators, some of whom have expressed during interviews that they were fed up with the constant flow of notifications, but did not always know how to quit for fear of becoming an outcast.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">This is where privacy serves many purposes, including the pursuit of happiness, in a way that is very much aligned with John Stuart Mill\u2019s arguments in favour of individual liberty<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_86\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_86');\" >[86]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_86\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Mill, John Stuart. 1859. <i>On Liberty<\/i>, JW Parker and Sons.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_86').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_86', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. In <i>On Liberty<\/i>, he claims that, ultimately, it is the individual who is best able to determine his or utility (that is to say, to summarise very quickly: path to fulfilment), and not the State, or the Church, or anybody else. There is also value, he states, in allowing people to explore different lifestyles \u2013 provided that their private actions do not provoke harm onto others. Given that, as far as I know, arguments in favour of forcing people to take part in the \u201cdigital society\u201d are mainly economic arguments, and given that infinite growth in a finite world is impossible, such arguments, in my opinion, do not hold against the genuine desire to be \u201clet alone\u201d by this digital society.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Complaints about feeling compulsed, or obliged, to be online \u2013 and therefore at the reach of others \u2013 at all times abound. A quick online search will yield many results on people explaining the benefits they feel from being offline at least from time to time<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_87\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_87');\" >[87]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_87\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See, for example: https:\/\/www.sloneek.com\/blog\/digital-detox-a-few-tips-on-how-to-set-it-up-and-why-go-offline-sloneek\/ ;&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_87');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_87').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_87', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> At the panel on the right to be offline at 2016\u2019s CPDP conference, researcher Hille Koskella explained that she stays away from a lot of the digital life, including social media, because she tries to avoid the sense acceleration-induced stress that comes with being online all the time<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_88\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_88');\" >[88]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_88\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See the recording of the panel: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tSRbuPRezO0\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tSRbuPRezO0<\/a><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_88').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_88', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Even if this is not true for everyone, a lot of people have come to associate the Internet with negative feelings. Surely, you can\u2019t expect victims of hate speech to have to keep their mobile data connection on at all times, and their attention tuned to notifications of hatred?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">This last example is extreme, and it is so on purpose. It allows me to answer a counter-argument made by someone in the audience of the launch event by the Catalan government and AccessNow of the \u201cGeneva Declaration on Targeted Surveillance and Human Rights\u201d. Surely, it should not be up to victims of unlawful behaviour, such as harassment or personal data right violations, to stay away from the wonders of the digital world?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">I would most definitely agree. But just as Scott Skinner-Thompson<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_89\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_89');\" >[89]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_89\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >Skinner-Thompson, Scott. 2020. <i>Privacy at the Margins<\/i>. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.<\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_89').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_89', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, I would contend that just because people who are victims of right violations must be protected, and have access to lawful remedies, does not mean that being able to take a break from that abuse does not have any value. This makes privacy valuable for people victims of systemic surveillance and discrimination <i>even if<\/i> such discriminations should be dealt with in the first place. And hiding away from the less-nice aspects of online life should also be permitted <i>even if<\/i> online abuse must also be dealt with so that everyone can have a choice to participate.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Another argument that can come at this point is that this example is definitely not an example where someone decides to remain offline \u201cjust for the heck of it\u201d. And just because someone turns off social media or geolocation does not mean that one is unwilling to fill an online form for an administrative procedure or to buy a train ticket.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The biggest argument in favour of a right to be offline \u201cjust for the heck of it\u201d is that it is the only way to make sure that a vulnerable person, whose vulnerability makes her or him eligible to a right to be offline \u201cas a last resort due to particular circumstances\u201d, does not have to bear the burden of the proof of the said situation.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Another argument is that a society that is unable to function without digital tools is more likely to collapse when faced with natural catastrophes, wars, blackouts, or other situations where such services are, at least temporarily, unavailable. Creating a negative and a positive right to be offline \u201cjust for the heck of it\u201d forces redundancy and improves resilience. In a way, it fosters collective technological sovereignty, because it maintains the structure of existing \u2013 oftentimes local, or at least less global \u2013 sociotechnical systems. This is where an argument that is closer to classical conservatism comes into play. As Karaboga et al. (2017) have argued, there is value in established practice, and there is therefore often value in maintaining it.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">An utilitarian argument is that only by allowing people to live more simple lifestyles will we be able to experiment, both individually and collectively, ways to reduce our environmental footprint. The environmental cost of a fully digital life is indeed far from negligible<span class=\"footnote_referrer\" ><a><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_90\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_90');\" >[90]<\/sup ><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_90\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\" >See: Flipo, Fabrice. 2021. La num\u00e9risation du monde: Un d\u00e9sastre \u00e9cologique. L\u2019\u00c9chapp\u00e9e. See also, in general, research conducted by the Working Group on Digital Environmental Policies of the&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_reference_611_90');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span ><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_90').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_611_90', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Of course, it is hard to estimate tradeoffs. Videoconferences can help reduce the carbon footprint of, say, aviation, by lowering the need to travel. On the other hand, video streaming is very costly, and so is programmatic advertisement. But, regardless, allowing people who want to, to explore alternative lifestyles, is likely to yield both individually and collectivelly useful results on the long term.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">A fourth argument, given the tendency of mainstream ICT to become more and more authoritarian in its design (Tr\u00e9guer, 2019), it could be argued that allowing anyone who wishes to be offline to do so is a new form of counter-power, or \u201ccheck and balance\u201d, that limits the reach of contemporary power structures.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Finally, a completely subjective argument, is that this is once again linked to human dignity. Humans should have equal rights by birth. This is, after all, what is stated in France under article 1 of the revolutionary 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. And humans are not born into the digital world. So given the fact that there is no guarantee that one will always be able to access and use online devices, one\u2019s dignity and status as a free human, subject of rights, should not be dependent on participation in a complex and costly technical system. Even if the said technical system has a lot of merits, and even if there is, at the same time, a very important negative and increasingly positive right to have access to the said technical system.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Which brings us back in a circle to the first one perhaps most important reason on why there should be a right to be offline \u201cjust for the heck of it\u201d: to ensure that the burden of proof does not lie on vulnerable people.<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"western\">Non-Concluding Conclusion and Further Questions<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">It is traditional and very <i>chich<\/i> for French legal scholars to avoid writing any conclusion, and I sort of feel like, at this point, I should follow this tradition. But given the length of this working paper, I feel like a short recap may be useful.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">As far as I know based on limited existing literature and on what I know of positive law, at least in France, based on national and European law, there is only a limited general right to an offline alternative in specific circumstances. There are, however, sectorial initiatives, in the field of labour law, or with proposals, this time in Austria, to protect the right to cash on a constitutional level.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">A quick exploration of moral and philosophical arguments in favour of allowing people not to use computers \u201cjust for the heck of it\u201d shows that support for such a position can be drawn from a rather wide variety of ethical traditions. At the same time, these working paper musings are just a personal exploration of a topic that actually deserves more serious and in-depth research and intellectual debate.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">One thing this working paper did not do was look into the extent to which there should be a positive right to be offline. Nor did I explore the potential limits of such a right, given that the aim was to start with exploring the reasons why there should be one in the first place. I did not look much into consumer law, nor into competition or state aid law. And an exercise in comparative law would be most useful. There may be, after all, jurisdictions that have already recognised a right to be offline, that I am not aware of.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">As a final conclusion, one thing I am certain of in relation to this topic, is that there is a vast field of research that has so far been left unexplored, and deserves more attention.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Should you have any comments on all of the above, feel free to reach out. I welcome any critical feedback, or reading suggestions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\" > <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\" ><p ><span class=\"footnote_reference_container_label\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_reference_container_611();\" ><\/span ><span class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_611();\" >[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_611\" >+<\/a >]<\/span ><\/p ><\/div > <div id=\"footnote_references_container_611\" style=\"\" > <table class=\"footnote-reference-container\" > <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_1');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Berhuet, Solen<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, Lucie Brice-Mansencal, Patricia Croutte, Eliot Forcadell, Charlotte Millot <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">and<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> J\u00f6rg M\u00fcller, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">2023. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Barom\u00e8tre de l\u2019Arcep et du CREDOC, see: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.credoc.fr\/publications\/barometre-du-numerique-edition-2023-rapport\">https:\/\/www.credoc.fr\/publications\/barometre-du-numerique-edition-2023-rapport<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_2');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">based on population statistics published by INSEE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insee.fr\/fr\/statistiques\/5225246\">https:\/\/www.insee.fr\/fr\/statistiques\/5225246<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_3');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>3<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">I could not find overall demographic statistics on the population aged between 18 and 24, as the INSEE uses different categories, so I do not have an estimate of how many individuals are concerned <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">in absolute values<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_4');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>4<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Mittelstadt, Brent, Tobias Matzner, Ero Balsa, Katleen Gabriels, Hille Koskela and Carsten Ochs, 2016. CPDP 2016: Is there right for offline alternatives in a digital world? See panel recording at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tSRbuPRezO0\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tSRbuPRezO0<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_5');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_5\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>5<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Kloza, Dariusz. 2021. \u201cIt\u2019s All About Choice: The Right Not to Use the Internet\u201d, <i>V\u00f6lkerrechtsblog<\/i>. See: <a href=\"https:\/\/researchportal.vub.be\/en\/publications\/its-all-about-choice-the-right-not-to-use-the-internet\">https:\/\/researchportal.vub.be\/en\/publications\/its-all-about-choice-the-right-not-to-use-the-internet<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_6');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_6\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>6<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Karaboga, Murat, Tobias Matzner, Hannah Obersteller and Carsten Ochs. 2017. \u201cIs There a Right to Offline Alternatives in a Digital World?\u201d, in: Leenes, Ronald, Rosamunde van Brakel, Serge Gurtwirth and Paul de Hert (eds), <i>Data Protection and Privacy: (In)visibilities and Infrastructures<\/i>, Cham, Springer, pp. 31-58<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_7');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_7\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>7<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Tr\u00e9guer, F\u00e9lix. 2019. <i>L\u2019Utopie D\u00e9chue. Une contre-histoire d\u2019Internet. <\/i>Paris, Fayard. For an English language book review, see, e.g.: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tecnoscienza.net\/index.php\/tsj\/article\/download\/462\/279\">http:\/\/www.tecnoscienza.net\/index.php\/tsj\/article\/download\/462\/279<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_8');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_8\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>8<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >The Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace can be read here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/fr\/cyberspace-independence\">https:\/\/www.eff.org\/fr\/cyberspace-independence<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_9');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_9\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>9<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Loi du 26 juillet 1996 de r\u00e9glementation des t\u00e9l\u00e9communications, article 8<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_10');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_10\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>10<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >C. Constitutionnel, 10 June 2009, decision 2009-580 DC, \u201cHadopi\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_11');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_11\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>11<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 18 December 2012, Ahmet Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m v. Turkey, 3111\/10; see also ECtHR 17 January 2017 Jankovskis v. Lithuania, 21575\/08<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_12');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_12\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>12<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See Title III of Loi 2016-1321 du 7 octobre 2016 pour une R\u00e9publique num\u00e9rique<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_13');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_13\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>13<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: <a href=\"https:\/\/digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu\/en\/library\/european-declaration-digital-rights-and-principles\">https:\/\/digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu\/en\/library\/european-declaration-digital-rights-and-principles<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_14');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_14\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>14<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: Rossi, Julien. 2017. \u00ab Les enjeux de l\u2019infrastructure num\u00e9rique dans les politiques de d\u00e9veloppement \u00bb. In: <i>Stabilit\u00e9, int\u00e9gration, coop\u00e9ration et d\u00e9veloppement<\/i>. Szeged, Centre universitaire francophone, p. 141\u2011166. ISBN : 978-963-306-546-4. On IT and development policy in general, see work by Alain Kiyindou, including: Kiyindou, Alain. 2009. <i>Les pays en d\u00e9veloppement face \u00e0 la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de l\u2019information<\/i>, Paris, L\u2019Harmattan.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_15');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_15\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>15<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Perarnaud, Cl\u00e9ment, Julien Rossi, Francesca Musiani and Lucien Castex. 2022. <i>&#8216;Splinternets&#8217;: Addressing the renewed debate on internet fragmentation<\/i>. See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/stoa\/en\/document\/EPRS_STU(2022)729530\">https:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/stoa\/en\/document\/EPRS_STU(2022)729530<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_16');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_16\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>16<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 10 April 2007 \u201cEvans v. UK\u201d 6339\/05<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_17');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_17\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>17<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Bellon, Anne. 2023. <i>L&#8217;Etat et la Toile: Du d\u00e9veloppement de l&#8217;internet \u00e0 la num\u00e9risation de l&#8217;action publique<\/i>. Vulaines sur Seine, \u00c9ditions du Croquant.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_18');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_18\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>18<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >D\u00e9fenseur des droits. 2023. <i>D\u00e9mat\u00e9rialisation des services publics : trois ans apr\u00e8s, o\u00f9 en est-on ?<\/i>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseurdesdroits.fr\/sites\/default\/files\/atoms\/files\/ddd_rapport-dematerialisation-2022_20220307.pdf\">https:\/\/www.defenseurdesdroits.fr\/sites\/default\/files\/atoms\/files\/ddd_rapport-dematerialisation-2022_20220307.pdf<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_19');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_19\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>19<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Pervasive surveillance is, in and by itself, harmful, as demonstrated by Adam Moore in: Moore, Adam. 2003. \u201cPrivacy: Its Meaning and Value\u201d, <i>American Philosophical Quarterly<\/i>, vol. 40, nr. 3, pp. 215-227<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_20');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_20\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>20<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.francetvinfo.fr\/economie\/transports\/sncf\/jura-un-pretre-malvoyant-ne-peut-pas-acheter-son-billet-de-train-sur-une-borne-il-ecope-d-une-amende-de-100-euros_3510465.html\">https:\/\/www.francetvinfo.fr\/economie\/transports\/sncf\/jura-un-pretre-malvoyant-ne-peut-pas-acheter-son-billet-de-train-sur-une-borne-il-ecope-d-une-amende-de-100-euros_3510465.html<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_21');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_21\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>21<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Mokadem, Hakim. 2022. \u201cConsentement, protection des donn\u00e9es\u2026 \u00e0 peine lanc\u00e9, \u201cMon Espace Sant\u00e9\u201d d\u00e9j\u00e0 critiqu\u00e9\u201d. <i>Marianne<\/i>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marianne.net\/societe\/sante\/consentement-protection-des-donnees-a-peine-lance-mon-espace-sante-deja-critique\">https:\/\/www.marianne.net\/societe\/sante\/consentement-protection-des-donnees-a-peine-lance-mon-espace-sante-deja-critique<\/a>. See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.laquadrature.net\/2022\/03\/25\/pourquoi-sopposer-a-la-creation-de-mon-espace-sante\/\">https:\/\/www.laquadrature.net\/2022\/03\/25\/pourquoi-sopposer-a-la-creation-de-mon-espace-sante\/<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_22');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_22\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>22<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Loi n\u00b0 2005-102 du 11 f\u00e9vrier 2005 pour l&#8217;\u00e9galit\u00e9 des droits et des chances, la participation et la citoyennet\u00e9 des personnes handicap\u00e9es<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_23');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_23\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>23<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Especially article 225-1 of Criminal Code, which forbids discriminations i.a. on the grounds of their handicap.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index\"  ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_24\" class=\"footnote_backlink\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_24');\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>24<\/a>, <a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_26\" class=\"footnote_backlink\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_26');\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>26<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Aouici, Sabrina and Malorie Peyrache. 2021. \u201cLe soutien d\u2019un tiers pour limiter le non-recours face \u00e0 l\u2019e-administration : enjeux et limites\u201d, <i>Retraite et soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/i>, nr. 87, pp. 191-202<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_25');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_25\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>25<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >D\u00e9lib\u00e9ration n\u00b0 2022-068 du 9 juin 2022 portant avis sur un projet de d\u00e9cret autorisant la cr\u00e9ation d&#8217;un traitement automatis\u00e9 de donn\u00e9es \u00e0 caract\u00e8re personnel pour le contr\u00f4le de l&#8217;existence des b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiaires d&#8217;une pension de vieillesse r\u00e9sidant \u00e0 l&#8217;\u00e9tranger<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_27');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_27\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>27<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Regulation (EU) 2015\/758 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 concerning type-approval requirements for the deployment of the eCall in-vehicle system based on the 112 service and amending Directive 2007\/46\/EC<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_28');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_28\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>28<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See here: <a href=\"https:\/\/foundation.mozilla.org\/fr\/privacynotincluded\/articles\/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy\/\">https:\/\/foundation.mozilla.org\/fr\/privacynotincluded\/articles\/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy\/<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_29');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_29\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>29<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See, for Google: CNIL, D\u00e9lib\u00e9ration SAN-2019-001 du 21 janvier 2019, and Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat 19 juin 2020, Google contre CNIL, nr. 430810<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_30');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_30\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>30<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Scott, Brett. 2022. <i>Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto and the War for our Wallets<\/i>. Bodley Head.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_31');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_31\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>31<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Article D112-3 of the Code mon\u00e9taire et financier.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_32');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_32\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>32<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Untersinger, Martin. 20 October 2017. \u201cIzly, l\u2019appli du Cnous qui g\u00e9olocalise des \u00e9tudiants et renseigne des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s publicitaires\u201d, <i>Le Monde<\/i>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/pixels\/article\/2017\/10\/20\/izly-l-appli-du-cnous-qui-geolocalise-des-etudiants-et-renseigne-des-societes-publicitaires_5203902_4408996.html\">https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/pixels\/article\/2017\/10\/20\/izly-l-appli-du-cnous-qui-geolocalise-des-etudiants-et-renseigne-des-societes-publicitaires_5203902_4408996.html<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_33');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_33\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>33<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See their working paper: <a href=\"https:\/\/privacyinternational.org\/long-read\/84\/why-we-are-so-concerned-about-government-hacking-surveillance\">https:\/\/privacyinternational.org\/long-read\/84\/why-we-are-so-concerned-about-government-hacking-surveillance<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_34');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_34\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>34<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >see: Manach, Jean-Marc. 2021. \u201cNSO : Pegasus aurait aussi espionn\u00e9 le t\u00e9l\u00e9phone de la femme du journaliste assassin\u00e9 Khashoggi\u201d, <i>Next-Impact<\/i>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextinpact.com\/article\/49270\/nso-pegasus-aurait-aussi-espionne-telephone-femme-journaliste-assassine-khashoggi\">https:\/\/www.nextinpact.com\/article\/49270\/nso-pegasus-aurait-aussi-espionne-telephone-femme-journaliste-assassine-khashoggi<\/a> <\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_35');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_35\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>35<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See article 3 of Projet de loi d\u2019orientation et de programmation du minist\u00e8re de la justice 2023 \u2013 2027; as of August 31, 2023, this bill was still under negociation between the National Assembly and the Senate, but the provisions on remote access to devices are likely to go through Parliament soon. See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.assemblee-nationale.fr\/dyn\/16\/dossiers\/DLR5L16N47779\">https:\/\/www.assemblee-nationale.fr\/dyn\/16\/dossiers\/DLR5L16N47779<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_36');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_36\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>36<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >I am complaining, but I do believe that there is value in the peer-review process. I am just enjoying the freedom that comes with publishing a mere bunch of unscientific thoughts to my own personal blog.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_37');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_37\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>37<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >D\u00e9cret nr. 2021-313 of 24 March 2021, Arr\u00eat\u00e9 du 27 avril 2021 pris en application de l&#8217;article R. 431-2 du code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile relatif aux titres de s\u00e9jour dont la demande s&#8217;effectue au moyen d&#8217;un t\u00e9l\u00e9service, and Arr\u00eat\u00e9 du 19 mai 2021 modifiant l&#8217;arr\u00eat\u00e9 du 27 avril 2021 pris en application de l&#8217;article R. 431-2 du code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile relatif aux titres de s\u00e9jour dont la demande s&#8217;effectue au moyen d&#8217;un t\u00e9l\u00e9service<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_38');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_38\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>38<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 3 June 2022, decision nr. 452798, Conseil national des barreaux et autres<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_39');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_39\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>39<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Translated from French. Original text: \u201c\u00e0 la condition de permettre l&#8217;acc\u00e8s normal des usagers au service public et de garantir aux personnes concern\u00e9es l&#8217;exercice effectif de leurs droits.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_40');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_40\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>40<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >\u201cun accompagnement les personnes qui ne disposent pas d&#8217;un acc\u00e8s aux outils num\u00e9riques ou qui rencontrent des difficult\u00e9s soit dans leur utilisation, soit dans l&#8217;accomplissement des d\u00e9marches administratives\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_41');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_41\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>41<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >\u201c[\u2026] pour le cas o\u00f9 certains demandeurs se heurteraient, malgr\u00e9 cet accompagnement, \u00e0 l&#8217;impossibilit\u00e9 de recourir au t\u00e9l\u00e9service pour des raisons tenant \u00e0 la conception de cet outil ou \u00e0 son mode de fonctionnement.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_42');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_42\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>42<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >This part was written on Sept. 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 2023<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_43');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_43\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>43<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >\u201c[\u2026] elle invite le minist\u00e8re \u00e0 faire appara\u00eetre explicitement dans le projet de d\u00e9cret le caract\u00e8re facultatif du recours au dispositif ainsi que l&#8217;information annuelle des personnes concern\u00e9es sur l&#8217;ensemble des moyens alternatifs permettant de prouver leur existence.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_44');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_44\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>44<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: Cons. const., 23 July 1999, nr. 99-416 DC.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_45');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_45\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>45<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Loi n\u00b0 78-17 du 6 janvier 1978.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_46');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_46\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>46<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >De Marco, Estelle. 2018. <i>Comparative study between directive 95\/46\/EC &amp; the GDPR including their relations to fundamental rights<\/i>. Deliverable D2.10, project INFORM, JUST-JTRA-EJTR-AG-2016<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_47');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_47\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>47<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >A data controller is a person or a set of persons acting as joint controllers who determine the means and ends of a data processing operation.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_48');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_48\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>48<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >User in data-protection-speak.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_49');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_49\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>49<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: Olejnik, Lukasz, Tran Minh-Dung and Claude Castelluccia, 2013. \u201cSelling Off Privacy at Auction\u201d, \uffffhal-00915249\uffff, <a href=\"https:\/\/inria.hal.science\/hal-00915249\/document\">https:\/\/inria.hal.science\/hal-00915249\/document<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_50');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_50\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>50<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Benjakob, Omer. 2023 \u201cRevealed: Israeli Cyber Firms Have Developed an &#8216;Insane&#8217; New Spyware Tool. No Defense Exists\u201d, <i>Haaretz<\/i>, 14 Sept. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/israel-news\/2023-09-14\/ty-article-magazine\/.highlight\/revealed-israeli-cyber-firms-developed-an-insane-new-spyware-tool-no-defense-exists\/0000018a-93cb-de77-a98f-ffdf2fb60000\">https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/israel-news\/2023-09-14\/ty-article-magazine\/.highlight\/revealed-israeli-cyber-firms-developed-an-insane-new-spyware-tool-no-defense-exists\/0000018a-93cb-de77-a98f-ffdf2fb60000<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_51');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_51\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>51<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><span lang=\"en-GB\">CNIL, D\u00e9lib\u00e9ration SAN-2019-001 du 21 janvier 2019, and Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat 19 juin 2020, Google contre CNIL, nr. 430810<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_52');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_52\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>52<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECJ 5 June 2018 Unabh\u00e4ngiges Landeszentrum f\u00fcr Datenschutz Schleswig-Holstein contre Wirtschaftsakademie Schleswig-Holstein GmbH, C-210\/16; ECJ 29 July 2019 Fashion ID GmbH &amp; Co.KG contre Verbraucherzentrale NRW eV, C-40\/17.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_53');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_53\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>53<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >\u201cL&#8217;organisation des mobilit\u00e9s sur l&#8217;ensemble du territoire doit satisfaire les besoins des usagers et rendre effectifs le droit qu&#8217;a toute personne, y compris celle dont la mobilit\u00e9 est r\u00e9duite ou souffrant d&#8217;un handicap, de se d\u00e9placer et la libert\u00e9 d&#8217;en choisir les moyens [\u2026]\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_54');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_54\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>54<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See articles 226-16 to 226-24 of the Criminal Code.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_55');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_55\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>55<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See articles 432-4 to 432-6 of the Criminal Code.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_56');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_56\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>56<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See its article L121-11.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_57');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_57\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>57<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 2023. \u201c12 propositions pour r\u00e9ussir le dernier km de l\u2019action publique\u201d, 2023 Anunal Study, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conseil-etat.fr\/Media\/actualites\/documents\/2023\/septembre-2023\/dossier-de-presse-etude-sur-le-dernier-kilometre-de-l-action-publique\">https:\/\/www.conseil-etat.fr\/Media\/actualites\/documents\/2023\/septembre-2023\/dossier-de-presse-etude-sur-le-dernier-kilometre-de-l-action-publique<\/a>, p.4)<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">). But such a principle goes beyond what the French supreme administrative judges have recognised.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Dariusz Kloza (2021) explores some of the ECtHR case law, trying to answer the following question: can you force somebody to use the Internet? He examined cases where the Court ruled on a right <i>not to do<\/i> something. In 2008, for example, it ruled that one should not be forced to swear a religious oath, for this would amount to forcing one to reveal one\u2019s religion, which would be in stride with his right to religious freedom, which includes the right not to disclose or profess any religious belief((ECtHR 21 February 2008, Alexandridis v. Greece, 19516\/06, \u00a738.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_58');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_58\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>58<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 30 June 1993, Sigur\u00f0ur A. Sigurj\u00f3nsson v. Iceland, 16130\/90, \u00a735<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_59');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_59\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>59<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 3 March 1986, Stevens v. United-Kingdom, 11674\/85<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_60');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_60\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>60<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 4 December 2008,<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">S. and Marper v. the United Kingdom, 30562\/04 and 30566\/04, \u00a766)<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">)<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Furthermore, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">i<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">n general terms, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">it secures to the individual a sphere within which he can freely pursue the development and fulfilment of his personality\u201d((<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 28 October 2014, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Gough <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">v. the United Kingdom<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">49327\/11<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, \u00a7182<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_61');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_61\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>61<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 14 June 2016, Bir\u017eietis v. Lithuania, 49304\/09, \u00a7\u00a7 54 and 57-58<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_62');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_62\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>62<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >\u00a758 of the above case.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_63');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_63\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>63<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 1st July 2014 SAS v France, 43835\/11, \u00a725<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_64');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_64\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>64<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >\u201cArticle 8 cannot be taken to protect every conceivable personal choice in that domain: there must presumably be a de minimis level of seriousness as to the choice of desired appearance in question\u201d (\u00a7184<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_65');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_65\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>65<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See i.a. ECtHR 2 September 2009, Uzun v. Germany, 35623\/05<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_66');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_66\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>66<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 22 February 2018, Libert contre France, 588\/13<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_67');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_67\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>67<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR 24 September 2009, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Diana <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Vu\u010dina v.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> Croatia, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">58955\/13, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a750)<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">I<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">s the obligation to live online such a hard obligation that one \u2013 irrespective of one\u2019s personal situation \u2013 should have a right to choose this lifestyle, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">or not? How is it even related to privacy, as defined by the ECtHR\u2019s case law?<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">P<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">rivacy, according to <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">that court\u2019s<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> case law, covers an array of topics as diverse as <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">the right not be insulted and belittled in class in an educational setting<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">((<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">22 April 2021,<\/span> <span lang=\"en-GB\">F.O. v. Croatia, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">29555\/13, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a78<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">1<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_68');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_68\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>68<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 17 January 2021,<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">.H. and others versus Russia, nr. 6033\/13, 8927\/13, 10549\/13, 12275\/13, 23890\/13, 26309\/13, 27161\/13, 29197\/13, 32224\/13, 32331\/13, 32351\/13, 32368\/13, 37173\/13, 38490\/13, 42340\/13 and 42403\/13<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_69');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_69\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>69<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 10 April 2007, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Evans <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">v UK, 6339\/05<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_70');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_70\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>70<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 20 March 2007, Tysi<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u0105<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">c v. Poland, <\/span><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">5410\/03, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a7107; <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 16 December 2010, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">A B C v Ireland, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">25579\/05 <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a7214<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_71');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_71\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>71<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 22 October 1981, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Dudgeon <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">v UK<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, 7525\/76<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_72');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_72\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>72<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" ><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 19 January 2021, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Lacatus v. Switzerland<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">,<\/span> <span lang=\"en-GB\">14065\/15<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_73');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_73\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>73<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >If one would like a more complete account, based on comparative law, of what the right to privacy covers, I would highly recommend Koops, Bert-Jaap, Bryce Clayton Newell, Tjerk Timan, Ivan \u0160korv\u00e1nek, Tomislav Chokrevski and Ma\u0161a Gali\u010d. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">2017. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201cA Typology of Privacy\u201d, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><i>University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law<\/i><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, vol. 38, nr. 2, pp. 483-575.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_74');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_74\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>74<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >For a philosophical account, see: <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Whitman, James Q.. 2004. \u201cThe Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty\u201d, <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><i>Yale Law Journal<\/i><\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, vol. 113, nr. 6, pp. 1151-1221. For a reference to human dignity in relation to the right to privacy under the ECHR, see: <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ECtHR 19 January 2021, Lacatus v. Switzerland, 14065\/15, \u00a756.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_75');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_75\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>75<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR, Lacatus case, \u00a756.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_76');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_76\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>76<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >ECtHR, Lacatus case, \u00a755.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_77');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_77\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>77<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >H\u00fclsemann, Laura. 2023. Aug. 4. \u201cAustrian chancellor: Right to use cash should be in constitution\u201d, <i>Politico Europe<\/i>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/austria-chancellor-karl-nehammer-cash-use-constitution\/\">https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/austria-chancellor-karl-nehammer-cash-use-constitution\/<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_78');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_78\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>78<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Article L2242-17 7\u00b0 of the Labour Code.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_79');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_79\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>79<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Like when the German Federal Constitutional Tribunal ruled, in 2020, that the European Central Bank\u2019s Public Sector Purchase Programme was illegal, in BVerfG 5 May 2020 2 BvR 859\/15, 2 BvR 980\/16, 2 BvR 2006\/15, 2 BvR 1651\/15.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_80');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_80\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>80<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: ECJ 9 March 2010, European Commission v. Federal Republic of Germany, C-518\/07<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_81');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_81\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>81<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >On this, see: De Hert, Paul and Dariusz Kloza, 2012. \u201cInternet (access) as a new fundamental right. Inflating the current rights framework?\u201d, <i>European Journal of Law and Technology<\/i>, vol. 3, nr. 3, <a href=\"https:\/\/ejlt.org\/index.php\/ejlt\/article\/view\/123\">https:\/\/ejlt.org\/index.php\/ejlt\/article\/view\/123<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_82');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_82\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>82<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: Latouche, Serge. 2012. <i>L\u2019\u00e2ge des limites<\/i>. 1001 Nuits.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_83');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_83\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>83<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Some people will say that this is true with privacy as well. See: Mulligan, Deirdre K., Colin Koopman and Nick Doty. 2016. \u201cPrivacy is an essentially contested concept: a multi-dimensional analytic for mapping privacy\u201d, <i>Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences<\/i>, 374:20160118. <a href=\"http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rsta.2016.0118\">http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rsta.2016.0118<\/a>. However, privacy can still be defined, from a sociological perspective, as something that is constituted by reactions to feelings of intrusion or, in some cultures, of intruding upon.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_84');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_84\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>84<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Brandeis, Louis and Samuel Warren. 1890. \u201cThe Right to Privacy\u201d, <i>Harvard Law Review<\/i>, vol. 4, nr. 5, pp. 193\u2013220<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_85');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_85\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>85<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Adoprivacy is a research project coordinated by Prof. Dr. Sophie Jehel, and funded by the D\u00e9fenseur des droits and the INJEP. See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adoprivacy.fr\/\">https:\/\/www.adoprivacy.fr\/<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_86');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_86\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>86<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Mill, John Stuart. 1859. <i>On Liberty<\/i>, JW Parker and Sons.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_87');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_87\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>87<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See, for example: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sloneek.com\/blog\/digital-detox-a-few-tips-on-how-to-set-it-up-and-why-go-offline-sloneek\/\">https:\/\/www.sloneek.com\/blog\/digital-detox-a-few-tips-on-how-to-set-it-up-and-why-go-offline-sloneek\/<\/a> ; <a href=\"https:\/\/offlinedestinations.com\/digital-detox-how-to-unplug-and-recharge-every-day\/\">https:\/\/offlinedestinations.com\/digital-detox-how-to-unplug-and-recharge-every-day\/<\/a> ; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itstimetologoff.com\/2016\/12\/29\/30-day-digital-detox-challenge\/\">https:\/\/www.itstimetologoff.com\/2016\/12\/29\/30-day-digital-detox-challenge\/<\/a> ; these are just a few examples on top of a quick Google search on \u201cdigital detox\u201d. I am not necessarily endorsing all the claims made by these blogs. But the fact is that many people claim that spending time offline benefits their sense of wellbeing. Even if this may not be true for everyone, it is reasonable to admit that it is true for many people, regardless of their actual (unknown) proportion.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_88');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_88\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>88<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See the recording of the panel: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tSRbuPRezO0\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tSRbuPRezO0<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_89');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_89\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>89<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >Skinner-Thompson, Scott. 2020. <i>Privacy at the Margins<\/i>. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_611('footnote_plugin_tooltip_611_90');\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_611_90\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>90<\/a><\/td> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\" >See: Flipo, Fabrice. 2021. <i>La num\u00e9risation du monde: Un d\u00e9sastre \u00e9cologique<\/i>. L\u2019\u00c9chapp\u00e9e. See also, in general, research conducted by the Working Group on Digital Environmental Policies of the GDR Internet, IA et Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 of the CNRS: <a href=\"https:\/\/cis.cnrs.fr\/politiques-environnementales-du-numerique\/\">https:\/\/cis.cnrs.fr\/politiques-environnementales-du-numerique\/<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_611() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_611').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_611').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_611() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_611').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_611').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_611() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_611').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_611(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_611(); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_611(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_611(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.20 }, 380);\/*duration*\/ } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is There a Right not to Participate in Digital Technology? 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