Phonegate: 10 years of alerts, evidence, and battles

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” What strikes me is that the problem has never been just a mobile phone issue. From the very start, we understood that this was a scandal of method, like Dieselgate for the automotive industry: biased tests, control algorithms, bypassed standards, and in the end, users who were overexposed without knowing it. This is what made a long-term fight necessary, followed by the creation of the NGO in 2018 to structure this battle.“

Dr Marc Arazi : ” Because from 2018 onwards, it was no longer just about launching an alert, but about keeping it alive over time. We needed a structure to inform, document, defend users, and bring together doctors, lawyers, scientists, journalists, politicians, and citizens. The fight then took on another dimension: less isolated, more collective, and also more offensive.“

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” Because it came to confirm, in a completely independent manner, what we had been denouncing for several years in France. The tests carried out under the direction of investigative journalist Sam Roe (Pulitzer Prize) showed that several smartphones (Apple, Samsung, Motorola) could widely exceed regulatory limits in conditions close to their real-world use (like in a pocket). From that moment on, Phonegate was no longer a French affair. The debate became international, with legal actions against these manufacturers in the United States and Canada, and a questioning of certification methods for mobile phones. This investigation was a tremendous accelerator of global awareness.“

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” Yes, because a book allows you to link the facts, the evidence, the documents, and the testimonies into a narrative understandable by everyone. The challenge was to break out of the purely technical register to show the scale of the problem: overexposures, misleading tests, institutional resistance, and this persistent impression that citizens are asked to trust a system that protects them poorly. Moreover, it was translated into English in 2022, which helped make Phonegate known far beyond our frontiers.“

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” Because algorithms are not a simple technical detail: they condition the real power of the device, and therefore the level of exposure. If they are used to throttle a phone during tests, and then disappear from public view at the moment of real-world use, then we are facing a major transparency problem. And with artificial intelligence, this question becomes even more important, because future networks and devices risk being even more complex to control. This is, moreover, what the European Commission’s August 2025 enforcement decision on the iPhone 12 officially brought to light.“

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” Yes, clearly. AI can be used to optimize networks, but it can also contribute to making the actual operational mechanisms of the devices even more difficult to understand. If tomorrow software permanently steers the emission powers, usages, and transmission conditions, the question of their control will become even more strategic. The more intelligent the systems are, the more transparent and independent the verification methods will have to be.“

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” Indeed, because it illustrates another major aspect of the problem: the way certain research protocols can be framed by experts who are not independent. Our investigation showed serious conflicts of interest, including around Orange, in the measurement protocols of this study supposed to look into the links between brain tumors in children and mobile phones. If studies do not measure the true levels of human exposure, they risk above all reassuring cheaply.

This is not a simple scientific controversy, but a worrying strategy. When manufacturers influence protocols, expert assessments, or research questions, they risk biasing the conclusions. This is precisely why independent research must be preserved.“

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” The assessment is positive. Our determined action has pulled back the curtain on part of the system, but not on everything. In concrete terms, our procedures have already led to the withdrawal from the market or software updates for around a hundred mobile phones — the very first connected objects of our daily lives —, and we have demonstrated that hundreds of others should today also be withdrawn. In front of us, there are companies of unparalleled power, capable of acting on standards, tests, algorithms, research, and the public narrative. Fortunately, we have also benefited from the support of many scientists, journalists, parliamentarians, associations, and citizens, without whom none of this would have been possible.“

But Phonegate is not an affair of the past. It enters a new phase today.

Dr. Marc Arazi : ” Our priority remains to obtain total transparency on the real conditions of evaluating human exposure to mobile phones. Several procedures are currently underway in France and at the European level to obtain the disclosure of essential technical documents regarding control methods, software, and algorithms used during compliance tests.

Beyond these actions, the stakes are now broader: guaranteeing citizens’ right to full information, strengthening the independence of scientific expertise, and ensuring that technological innovation never develops at the expense of public health. Ten years after the alert, our determination remains intact.“