The Ministry of National Education has asked to “stop any deployment or extension” of Microsoft Office 365, the American giant’s cloud office suite, in French schools. In response to a question from the MoDem Member Philippe Latombe stained from journalist Emile Marzolf, the ministry recalled the rules that apply to the use of American cloud services (online storage) in the context of public services.
Risk of access by US intelligence
Given the questions of the deputy, who is concerned about the free availability of Office 365 as a leader in losses for students, National Education recalls that “the local authorities to which the schools are attached provide the equipment and operation” of computer tools. In the eyes of the ministry, the directors of establishments or teachers do not therefore have to opt for other solutions.
This warning, which also refers to Google’s office suite, is based on the GDPR (European Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data), compliance with which US cloud players cannot be verified.
In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the legal framework for the transfer of personal data to the United States, due to the risk of espionage of this same data by US intelligence services. With serious consequences, even for widely used services like Facebook.
In a press release published in May 2021, the CNIL had already warned against the use of US tools, this time in higher education and research.
“Given the risk of illegal access to data, the CNIL requests changes in the use of these tools and will support interested organizations to identify possible alternatives,” the Commission had estimated.
Source: BFM TV
