2024 is an election year for many countries on the planet. Half of the world’s voting age population is called to the polls, making it a record year. In France, the start of June will be marked by the European elections which will be held on June 8 and 9. And who says elections, says management and protection of personal data, whether it concerns electoral propaganda, but also monitoring the smooth running of the polls.
In this context, the CNIL announces that it has activated its election observatory. This body, set up for the first time in 2012, aims to “ensure the monitoring of requests addressed to the CNIL within the framework of electoral campaigns.”
Its missions range from supporting parties in the protection of personal data to collecting and analyzing complaints sent to the CNIL during the electoral campaign period.
Phone calls and text messages in the viewfinder
During the previous European elections in 2019, the CNIL said it received 697 reports concerning the campaigns, “with a peak in registration on the last days of the electoral campaign.”
The vast majority of these reports concerned telephone calls and SMS messages sent by different actors with the aim of convincing voters.
The CNIL therefore announces that it will focus this year on “compliance with legislation on data protection of telephone prospecting practices, the reuse of files for electoral propaganda purposes” and “information of the persons concerned and the security of data collected by companies offering innovative voter targeting services.”
Not a hypothetical scenario
The subject is not a simple hypothetical scenario: in February, the CNIL imposed a fine of 20,000 euros on the Reconquest party! of Eric Zemmour for collecting the personal data of French citizens without their knowledge during the 2022 presidential election.
The party relied on a myriad of fake sites covering various current affairs topics to encourage Internet users to subscribe or sign petitions, mentioned Le Monde. The contact data thus recovered was subsequently used by Eric Zemmour’s party to send communication emails about his campaign. The CNIL denounced the lack of transparency and the incomplete confidentiality policies of these websites to justify the fine.
The Commission also announces that it will pay particular attention to the impact of artificial intelligence during the campaign: the use of generative artificial intelligence tools to create false videos or recordings of candidates is in fact a fear of numerous political actors and platforms.
Monitoring AI Usage
In the United States, images generated by artificial intelligence representing candidate Trump alongside African American citizens have circulated on social networks, as the Republican candidate tries to convince these voters ahead of his candidacy for the presidential election.
In February, major tech players came together to sign an agreement aimed at combating disinformation operations based on content generated by artificial intelligence. A text denounced as lacking ambition by its detractors, who emphasize that it does not provide any truly binding component for the signatory platforms.