Sarkozy Orders Review After Outcry Over Police Database

Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered a rethink of his government's new police database, which is designed to track people as young as 13 and record details such as the sexual orientation and health records of political candidates and trade unionists.

The president has been forced to backtrack after rebellion in his cabinet and a public outcry in which civil liberties campaigners and lawyers suggested France was being turned into a Big Brother state. The accusations threaten to be particularly damaging to the president, who has closely associated himself with policing and security issues. Just as Sarkozy's dire poll ratings are beginning to rise following his foreign diplomacy efforts, the Elysée is keen to limit the fallout.

The security database, known under the acronym Edvige, goes further than any previous French system, gathering personal information on health and sexual orientation and dropping the minimum age for surveillance from 18 to 13. It would allow security officials to track anyone considered a "possible threat to public order", and target anyone who has ever stood for public office, politicians, activists, religious figures, trade unionists and business leaders, or anyone playing a role in economic life. Information on health, illnesses, religion, tax, relationships and friendships would be held.

Lawyer Jean-Marc Fedida told Le Parisien the database opened up "the possibility of tracking the entire population of France". Campaigners warned that a child who wrote on a wall at school would be placed on the database and stigmatized. The defence minister, Hervé Morin, has condemned the tracking of politicians, and the human rights minister, Rama Yade, urged clarification of the inclusion of details on sexual orientation. Sarkozy yesterday urged his cabinet not to break ranks and has ordered a government review and "decisions to protect liberties".

The government could drop the details on sexual orientation and health, but the president is unlikely to relent on tracking children over 13. Youth crime and delinquency and unrest on poor estates are key issues for the president.

The Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative court, is examining more than a dozen complaints about the database, and is expected to rule by the end of the year. Civil rights group said they would hold street protests on October 16.