The CNIL plans to conduct 400 inspections this year in France

France’s Data Protection Authority, the CNIL, announced on 19 March that it aims to conduct some 400 inspections in 2013, reports law firm, Bird & Bird, Paris. A third of them will result from complaints received. CCTV will feature heavily as a topic that the CNIL will concentrate on, and a quarter of inspections will deal with CCTV / video surveillance.

The priority areas for business are:

• Data processed in the framework of free Internet access (WiFi spots), with implications for policies on use of these facilities by company owned mobile devices and employee owned mobile devices. Such data includes internet browser history information, correspondence, and retention of traffic data for law enforcement purposes. The checks to be carried out by the CNIL will aim to ensure that the legal framework for the retention of such data is respected.

• Data processed by market research companies.

Finally, in 2013, the CNIL will also will focus on international enforcement cooperation between data protection authorities. Such co-operation is already in place, for example, the CNIL represents the other European Data Protection Authorities in their contacts with Google. This co-operation is likely to increase as it is an important aspect of the EU Data Protection draft Regulation.