Professor Jean Peeters, holder of the Chair Cyber and digital sovereignty - IHEDN, The Group's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Louis Dupuis, took part in a workshop on the social acceptability of digital technologies at the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC 2021) on 8 September 2021.
Hosted by General Marc Watin-Augouard, workshop PhilosoFIC brought together more than 150 participants on the theme of “Digital technologies and social acceptability”, at the Grand Palais in Lille on Wednesday 8 September.
The teacher Jean Peeters offered a summary and perspective of this event, which consisted of two round tables.
As part of the first round table discussion, Professor Chantal Delsol, a member of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, and M. Paul Hébert, Deputy Director of Compliance at the CNIL, tried to answer the question “Are we the arbiters of the deployment of new technologies or are we the victims?”.
The second round table dealt with the issue of “Security - freedom: what balance should be struck in investigations using intrusive technologies?” with Mrs. Cécile Doutriaux, lawyer, la Colonelle Fabienne Lopez, head of the Centre for Combating Digital Crime (C3N) at the Gendarmerie Command in Cyberspace (ComCyberGend), and Professor Thomas Souvignet, specialising in forensic science.
In conclusion, Professor Jean Peeters highlighted the fact that the evolution of our society within a globalised information space is calling into question our model of vertical democracy. In terms of sovereignty, it has to be said that - since control of this space is mainly in the hands of GAFAM - it is North American law that takes precedence in cyberspace. Moreover, the ease of access to cybercrime tools makes it easy to manipulate information, with social networks as the main vectors of dissemination, now a powerful lever for anyone wishing to challenge the legitimacy of States or even the democratic principle. More than just an evolution, this is a lightning revolution. More than ever, the digital technologies that structure our daily lives are dual, in the sense that they are both a source of advantages and disadvantages: tools created to serve and defend us can also harm and attack us. If these technologies are to be socially acceptable, everyone needs to be aware of the importance of remaining in control of their activity in cyberspace, because we leave a trace of it with or without consent.
