The application has obtained some success, with several hundred thousand downloads. But some observers have noted negligence in data security.
Le Monde with AFP
The Elyze application is a crazy success. Since the beginning of January, she has joined the downloads, on the promise to help separate candidates for the presidential election.
But the application now arouses some concerns about the use of the database it collects. Thus, the National Committee on Informatics and Freedoms (CNIL), the independent public authority responsible for ensuring compliance with personal data, will verify whether the application is in accordance with the regulations on these “sensitive data”, a She announced to the France-Press agency (AFP), Monday, January 17th.
Developed by two students, Elyze matches the user with a candidate based on the political proposals he approves, in the manner of the Tinder meeting.
The CNIL “can not decide on the conformity of this application”. “We have been alerted and (…) we are looking at its operation,” added the regulator, which reserves the possibility of “making use of its repressive powers” in the event of a breach of the General Regulations on Data Protection (RGPD) .
“In general, this type of application must provide strong guarantees to protect the data from its users”, explains the CNIL.
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“The respect of these obligations is particularly necessary when sensitive data [data revealing political opinions] are processed,” adds the CNIL, stating that “the collection of these data is in principle prohibited, except for example, for example If the explicit consent of the people is collected “.
Grégoire Cazcarra, one of the founders, had explained to AFP that “the starting point” of the project was to “combat a galloping abstention which increases after election”.
The application has won some success, with several hundred thousands of downloads. But some observers have noted negligence in data security. A first user has identified a fault – corrected since – to modify the proposals of the candidates.
The co-founder of Elyze defends
Others question the collection of user responses and storing this data on an application server, at the Amazon Web Services Cloud Leader (AWS).
The general conditions of use of the application specify that it records the date of birth, the postal code and the kind of user if it chooses to communicate them, as well as its answers to the political proposals . The application also reserves the right to resell to third parties these “always anonymized” data.
“No data is shared with Google and Facebook. The data is anonymous, the application individually identifies no user”, defended Monday Grégoire Cazcarra, contacted by AFP.
According to him, the saved data could be used for “scientific research” or if the application decides to propose new content, but “they are not intended to be provided to a party or campaign team. “.