On the morning of the 8 December 2020, nine French citizens were arrested on association with terrorism charges. The nine French citizens had joined the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) to fight against ISIS. When they returned in 2018, they were designated as far-left extremists by the General Directorate for Internal Security. The arrests have become widely known as the 8 December incident.
After the arrests, 2 of the arrested persons were released and the other 7 were charged criminal association to commit terrorist acts. The police claimed that the citizens were in possession of explosive making material and were trying to purchase weapons, something which journalists and activists have disputed. One of the controversial parts of the arrests and charges were the charges relating to the use of security, privacy, and encryption tools such as uBlock Origin and others. In the criminal case, the use of these tools combined with technical documentation and the attendance of digital hygiene courses are being used by the prosecution to demonstrate “clandestine behavior”.
Under this premise, any person doing any of the following could be labeled as a terrorist:
- The use of encrypted communication applications like Signal, WhatsApp, Wire, Proton Mail
- Using internet privacy and anti-censorship tools including VPN, Tails or Tor
- Using an alternative operating system (non Apple / Google)
- Encrypting phones and other digital media
- Organizing and participating in digital hygiene training sessions (a.k.a. Security Awareness training)
- Possession of technical documentation
There are several other instances where digital privacy has been used as a justification for action by law enforcement. During recent environmental protests, the French government ordered the dissolvement of an environmental movement as the protestors had switched their phones off or had left them at home. While this situation is more complex as the protestors were involved in property damage and had handheld weapons, the use of any privacy tool or technique should not and can not be used in conjunction with other evidence to further prosecute someone. Privacy is required in democracies and if the criminal justice system is going to treat those who want to preserve their privacy as criminals, then democracy will be threatened.
