As the dematerialization of public services becomes more widespread, the Human rights defender is increasingly called upon to intervene on digital issues: imposed dematerialized payment of certain contributions with a penalty in case of refusal; automation of procedures causing difficulties for the elderly; dematerialization of access to information from public services forcing users to connect to the Internet to find out about the progress of the processing of their benefit or reimbursement files; dematerialization of requests for benefits or obligations to declare via the Internet (Caf, tax services), use of algorithms in the fight against fraud, consequences of digitization on the protection of the confidentiality of medical data and the marketing of these data.
In an opinion of December 17, 2015 on the digital law project, the Defender of Rights had recommended "that a clause be introduced to protect vulnerable users for any procedure of dematerialization of a public service, by providing for the obligation to offer an alternative path to the digital service."
The Defender of Rights recommended, in his 2017 activity report, " to reserve part of the gains obtained by digitization for the support of users, which is beginning to meet with a real echo and to spread in the practices implemented, even though they too often rely on the voluntarism of associations or on young people in the Civic Service. For "sensitive" audiences, public services, especially social services, should be more inspired by the order of October 4, 2017, which, in the financial sector, allows a return to paper."
On September 3, 2018, on the occasion of a decision, relating to the problems encountered in the context of the issuance of driving licenses and registration certificates The Defender of Rights reiterates his recommendation "to introduce into the law a clause for the protection of vulnerable users, providing for the obligation to offer an alternative route to the digital service within the framework of the implementation of any procedure for the dematerialization of a public service."
Références :
Sources
- 1. Decision 2018-226 of September 3, 2018, bearing several general recommendations intended to improve the dematerialized processing of driver's license and registration certificate applications and to guarantee the effectiveness of the rights of persons who remain conditioned on the granting of the titles
- 2. Opinion of the Defender of Rights No. 15-29 of December 17, 2015 on the draft law No. for a Digital Republic