On September 3, 2025, the Alerte Phonegate association filed a complaint with the Administrative Court of Melun against the French State for failing to inform the European Commission and the Member States of dangerous mobile phones still in circulation in Europe.
Action to protect the health of all Europeans
When ANFR finds that a mobile phone exceeds the legal radiation thresholds, it must immediately notify these non-compliances in the European ICSMS and RAPEX (Safety Gate) systems. These platforms are designed to alert authorities in other countries and inform European consumers. In reality, for a large proportion of the mobiles concerned, the reports arrive years late. Sometimes they never arrive.
Demanding transparency and public health
The average lifespan of a smartphone bought new is about two years. When an alert arrives months or even years late, or not at all, it no longer has any effect. By taking legal action, Alerte Phonegate is taking action to ensure that every user, in France and Europe, can finally be quickly protected against the proven health risks associated with overexposure to mobile phones in violation of regulations for non-compliant SARs.
ANFR’s damning record
- Since 2016, ANFR has pinpointed 58 non-compliant mobile phone models (at the date of finalization of the action, 60 to date)).
- Some were only registered after 8 years of delay.– Emblematic models, such as the iPhone 12, have never been notified within the European ICSMS system.
- No phone has been declared via the RAPEX system, which is dedicated to dangerous products.
As a result, millions of users across Europe have used these devices without ever being informed of the risks to their health and safety.
Phonegate Alert’s constant reminders to ignored authorities
Since 2018, Alerte Phonegate has multiplied letters, official approaches and public interventions to obtain from ANFR and ministers the rapid updating of the European databases. These repeated requests were largely ignored. Our NGO believes that the administration has deliberately chosen to protect manufacturers rather than the health of consumers. The state has prioritized device connectivity to public health. Faced with this unacceptable inertia, she was forced to take the matter to court.
For example, the iPhone 12 sold by Apple in Europe, recognized as dangerous in 2021 by the National Frequency Agency (ANFR), still does not benefit five years after their marketing from the corrective update recently requested by the European Commission.
The European Commission’s support for Phonegate Alert
In 2023, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, publicly recalled – citing the Phonegate Alert action – that Member States have a legal obligation to notify non-compliant phones in the ICSMS and RAPEX (Safety Gate) databases without delay. The Commission stressed that the effectiveness of these systems directly affects the health protection of all Europeans.
Clear obligations, but not respected by ANFR and therefore by the French State
👉 Jean-Paul Huard, secretary of Alerte Phonegate :
“We have been questioning the ANFR and the ministers for years. In vain. European citizens are deprived of information that should be accessible to them immediately. Faced with such a shortcoming, we have a duty to take legal action. »
👉 Lisa Arazi, lawyer for the association :
“The RED Directive and its transposition into French law are unequivocal: when a phone exceeds the regulatory thresholds, the State must inform the European Commission and the other EU countries. Failure to do so is a violation of France’s European obligations. »
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