Lexicon > Public data
IT Glossary
A public data is an information produced or received by the State, the local authorities as well as by the other persons of public right or the persons of private right charged of a mission of public service.
As a matter of principle, public data can be reused by any person, whether a natural or legal person, public or private.
This reuse, which is in principle free of charge, may be made for a purpose other than that of the public service mission for which the data were initially collected or produced.
However, some obstacles may restrict the free reuse of public data such as:
- The intellectual property rights of a private person or a public person operating a public industrial and commercial service subject to competition;
- Intellectual property rights held by third parties;
- Payment of a fee for access to certain data;
- The presence of personal data, unless the data has been publicly disclosed.
In any case, the re-use of public data cannot be subject to an exclusive right granted to a third party, except when it is necessary for the exercise of a public service mission.
Moreover, the re-use of public data containing personal data must be done in compliance with the rules enshrined in the GDPR since the re-user becomes in turn the controller.
This processing of public data should therefore include:
- Have a legal basis;
- Pursue a specific, explicit and legitimate purpose;
- Focus on adequate, relevant, proportionate and accurate data;
- To be carried out in full transparency and with respect for the rights of individuals;
- Respect the principle of data retention limitation;
- Ensure the security of the data.
Point of legislation
“Public information contained in documents communicated or published by the administrations mentioned in the first paragraph of Article L. 300-2 may be used by any person who so wishes for purposes other than those of the public service mission for which the documents were produced or received. “
L321-1 of the Code of relations between the public and the administration
Point of jurisprudence
The “Conseil d’Etat” has considered that the State, local authorities and other public law or private law entities entrusted with a public service mission may not ” rely on the rights of the database producer under article L. 342-1 of the intellectual property code to oppose the extraction or reuse of the content of such databases, when this content is public information. “
Council of State, February 8, 2017, No. 389806
The Bouchara firm assists you in particular in :
- Making your organization GDPR compliant;
- The drafting of data protection policies (privacy policy, computer charter …);
- Documentation of your processing (register of processing activities, register of violations, privacy impact analysis, prior consultation…);
- Obtaining certifications and adhering to codes of conduct;
- The study of the legal feasibility of the implementation of a new personal data processing;
- The drafting and transmission of your codes of conduct to the CNIL for approval;
- Legal analysis of the compliance of your data processing, including data transfers outside the European Economic Area;
- Drafting and negotiating your data processing agreements (DPA);
- Drafting your Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) and Codes of Conduct;
- Training and awareness of your employees.
We are also the external Data Protection Officer of many data processors and subcontractors.
