Charles DE LA VERPILLIERE, Honorary State Councillor, has just been appointed Chairman of the Comité du secret statistique, succeeding François WEIL in overseeing this committee which plays an essential and central role, often envied abroad, for access to individual data for research or study purposes.
Created in 1984 to authorise access to business data on a derogatory basis, the Comité du secret statistique saw its competence extended in 2008 to the authorisation procedure for household data covered by statistical confidentiality, then in 2013 to those covered by tax confidentiality.
Since 2016, it can, at the request of administrations, give an opinion on access to their individual databases covered by various secrets.
The Comité is also involved in the accreditation of research organisations authorised to access the so-called FPR (Production and Research Files), which are less detailed and available via Progedo/Quetelet.
Increasingly solicited, given the number of sources and areas covered, the Committee’s activity is growing steadily:
• Between 2015 and 2021, the number of cases reviewed each year has more than doubled.
• With 521 files examined in 2021, both in session (4 sessions per year) and during electronic consultations (13 sessions in 2021), which make it possible to speed up procedures for adding sources, members or renewals, there has been a 30% increase compared to the previous year.
Independent authority, in a central position to authorise through its opinions access to an extremely wide perimeter of sources covered by secrets, all of which are listed in the CDAP management module, which also allows online requests, transparent on the authorised projects, which can be consulted on its website.
The Comité du secret statistique is well in line with the European Data Strategy and the forthcoming developments of the Data Governance Act aimed at facilitating, with national entry points, a widespread opening of data in the European Union.
