In its order of April 30, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) returns to one of the key measures of the Hadopi law: access to IP addresses. A decision that weakens online anonymity.
This is a real blow to the fervent defenders of online anonymity fighting against the surveillance of French Internet users. In the crosshairs of the Court of Justice of the European Union is the Hadopi law, and more precisely the control of IP addresses. Almost 15 years after its creation, Hadopi is making headlines again.
La Quadrature du Net (LQDN), which actively fights against online surveillance, carried out proceedings in 2019 against the Hadopi law (now ARCOM, after its merger with the CSA). The association for the defense and promotion of rights and freedoms on the Internet, which has been working since 2008, already took a dim view at the time of an organization meddling in the online private lives of users. If it failed in the total revision of the text of the Creation and Internet law, it is once again standing up against the decision of the CJEU judgment, which definitively rests on what it defended in 2020: l online anonymity. This decision leans in favor of Hadopi.
The CJEU’s backpedaling on the surveillance of IP addresses goes badly
The CJEU recently revised its case law regarding access to IP addresses. A significant step backwards from its previous position. Because in 2020, the CJEU established strict restrictions on access to IP addresses, considering it an attack on fundamental rights. It was limited to cases of serious crime or threats to national security, and required prior review by a judge or an independent administrative authority.
The new decision which appears in the decree of April 30, 2024 relaxes these restrictions. It now allows broader access to IP addresses for less critical purposes, without the need for prior judicial supervision. This revision raises important questions about online privacy and anonymity, as it potentially allows police and other authorities to access civil identity linked to an IP address as well as the content of communications . And this is precisely what worries digital rights defenders, such as La Quadrature du Net, who see this as a development that could lead to increased online surveillance.
The CJEU in favor of the end of online anonymity?
By relaxing the rules for access to IP addresses, the CJEU has opened the door to more extensive online surveillance. She also returns to her support for the 2020 ePrivacy directive, which protected anonymity online, as LQDN states in its article: “ By allowing the police to have broad access to the civil identity associated with an IP address and the content of a communication, it puts de facto end to anonymity online. »
But beyond the attack on online anonymity and the freedom of everyone on the Internet, there is the question of self-censorship among Internet users, aware that their online activities can be traced more easily by the authorities. This could deter some from engaging in online activities anonymously, whether discussing sensitive topics, participating in discussion forums or contributing to collaborative platforms. Tomorrow, everyone shacked up?
Sources: Squaring the Net, Eur-Lex
3