Who is complaining to the CNIL? Why do they decide to exercise their data protection rights? What difficulties do they encounter in doing so?
To answer these questions, the CNIL's digital innovation laboratory (LINC) conducted a sociological survey of complainants. sociological survey 284 people, i.e. about 20% of the complaints received over the period, answered the questionnaire proposed at the end of the online complaint form. This quantitative survey was supplemented by 105 qualitative telephone interviews with volunteers.
The typical complainant: a male, graduate and executive
This survey allowed us to draw up a profile of the majority of complainants: mostly men (62%), between 30 and 49 years old (54.2%), with a master's degree or more (48.6%)."Degree level and socio-professional category appear to discriminate well in the use of the law in matters of personal data protection. Senior executives and graduates with a master's degree and above are overrepresented among respondents."The authors of the survey also note a clear overrepresentation of complainants living in the Île-de-France region.
If we cross-reference this socio-demographic information with the reason for the complaint, the only significant variables are the level of education and the professional category. Gender, age or the size of the municipality of residence have no impact on the reason for the complaint to the CNIL.
"While retirees file more complaints about business protection than the average (25% vs. 15%), workplace surveillance is the only complaint for which the overrepresentation of a social group is statistically significant. Workers file 7 times more complaints about workplace surveillance than the general population, while managers file 5 times less.Social inequalities in the use of rights
To explain these social inequalities in the use of personal data protection rights, the authors of the study put forward several hypotheses.Knowledge of the CNIL differs according to social backgroundThe survey of awareness carried out in 2020 by Ifop for the CNIL among a sample of 1006 people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over, shows that awareness varies greatly according to age, profession and level of education (while the category of agglomeration and region have no influence).
Knowledge of the CNIL varies greatly depending on the profession. While 68% of the French population is aware of the CNIL, only 45% of blue-collar workers and 59% of white-collar workers are aware of it (compared with 93% of executives and 85% of middle managers). Moreover, awareness of the CNIL is particularly discriminating according to the level of education. On average, those with more than a bachelor's degree say they are twice as familiar with the CNIL as those with less than a bachelor's degree (85% vs. 47%). Finally, 72% of those over 35 years of age know about the CNIL, compared to only 49% of those aged 18-24.
A lower sense of competence with digital toolsThe particular profile of complainants can also be explained by the marked social differences in digital equipment and practices. The most highly educated and privileged groups have more computers, smartphones, tablets and other connected objects. They also have more frequent digital use, both in their professional and personal spheres. They are therefore a priori more subject to the collection and processing of their personal data.
According to the Digital Barometer 2021, the level of diploma explains the situation: 33% of non-graduates do not master these tools sufficiently, compared to only 8% of graduates.
Another explanation for this inequality lies in the differences in representations, conceptions and practices relating to data protection within the various social groups. While concern for data protection and privacy is shared across all social classes, the Digital Barometer points out that executives and higher intellectual professions are slightly more precautionary in their actual practices, which may lead to greater recourse to data protection rights by these social groups.Moreover, "the fear for data security increases with the level of education". While 20% of non-graduates are concerned about the security of personal data, 24% of BEPC graduates are concerned, 29% of Baccalaureate graduates and 30% of university graduates (Digital Barometer 2021). Moreover, 38% of non-graduates say they have not taken any precautionary measures (17% of all respondents), while 47% of executives have adopted at least six (35% of respondents), according to the Digital Barometer 2021.
"Finally, social inequalities in access to rights are not specific to the protection of personal data. The social characteristics of individuals, their unequal endowment in economic, educational or symbolic capital, are explanatory variables of the differences in access to the law, to legal language and to the subtleties of procedures, as highlighted by the work of sociology of law".Références :
