Help Center

What is the law on open data?

The main text that organizes “open data” or good French access to public data is the law of October 16, 2016 for a digital republic but there are also other texts that may apply as the law of 17 July 1978, which regulates access to administrative documents or the law of 28 December 2015 on free and re-use of public sector information. The purpose of these texts is to organize access to data held by public persons so that the private sector can make use of it.

Are the databases of lost / found items part of the open data law?

There is no doubt that databases of lost / found items fall within the scope of information covered by the law on open data within the meaning of article L 300-2 of the CRPA (Code of relations between the public and the administration) when these bases are produced by municipalities of more than 3500 inhabitants, public companies like for example the RATP or SNCF, airports, public institutions, the State, …

How to share lost / found data while preserving personal data?

Article L 311-7 of the CRPA provides that personal data must be hidden or disjoined. For example, if a passport is found we can hide the name of the person while distributing the information sufficiently accurately to allow the person who lost it to find it. For lost items, the simplest is to ask the person who declares the loss of an item what personal data he accepts that the public person shares with aggregators of lost / found items bases and those who can or not be put online. Thus we can respect the protection of personal data while promoting the recovery of lost / found items.

I am a City Hall, what are my obligations ?

Like any public person if the commune has more than 3500 inhabitants you must organize to be able to communicate the databases of the lost / found items in the respect of the code of the relations between the public and the administration. By working with Troov, you will be in a position to respect this obligation. Our company is in close contact with the government unit dedicated to Open Data (Data.gouv) and works in compliance with this regulation. For more details, see the “open data guide for municipalities” published by Open data France and downloadable online

I am a public company, what are my obligations?

If you have a lost / found database you need to organize yourself to be able to communicate the lost / found databases in accordance with the Public-Administration Relations Code. The SNCF was the first public entity to share its database of lost and found items in open data, more than 90,000 items found per year. By working with Troov, you will be in a position to respect this obligation.