In an April 5, 2016 memo to prefects,the Director General of Local Authorities and the Director in charge of Archives de France took the position that local collectives should host their data in the sovereign Cloud (or cloud computing), with only national provider companies.
These two departments have a singular interpretation of the legal texts in force: the digital data of local authorities – including their e-mails – are considered to be public archives, national treasures as soon as they are created. Consequently, they must not leave the country.
The repercussions are far-reaching: use of the Cloud outside French territory is illegal, and may result in sanctions against local authorities or even hosting operators.
For Syntec Numérique, this position is unrealistic:
-the Digital Bill aims to promote the circulation of data and knowledge:government departments seem to be going against these major principles and their supervisory bodies;
–Creating protectionist barriers will slow down digital transformation and job creation, which is why data must flow;
-The digital world is indifferent to the territoriality of data storage.It is preferable to give all players the same level of protection, regardless of where the data is established or hosted;
-public procurement law and European law are not respected by state bodies on the occasion of this note (freedom of access to public procurement, principle of equality, Directive 2014/60/EU of May 15, 2014, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).Syntec Numérique therefore calls on the public authorities to be vigilant about the legality of their decisions.
-Threatening to impose sanctions on operators who have entered into contracts of their own free will, without any consultation or impact study, is notan appropriate operating method.
Syntec Numérique remains open to dialogue on this subject, and reiterates its proposal to meet with the SIAF* to find a rapid solution to the problems faced by local authorities and digital companies.
Syntec Numérique hopes that the public authorities and administrations concerned will not give in to the temptation of protectionism, so as to ensure that French players have the assets they need to succeed in the digital transformation underway.