Referral to Roland Lescure
Access the official letter addressed to the Minister of the Economy regarding the failures of the ANFR.
The European Commission has already acknowledged the fraud
In its implementing decision of August 19, 2025, the European Commission confirmed that Apple’s software mechanisms made the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) tests of the iPhone 12 non-transparent and required a correction across the Union. In other words, SAR test fraud is no longer just an NGO allegation: it is officially recognized at the European level.
This decision sets a major precedent: it confirms that software embedded in smartphones and connected objects can voluntarily distort official controls while giving the illusion of compliance with the RED directive—even though the primary requirement of this directive (Article 3) is to ensure the protection of users’ health and safety.
Phonegate Alert believes it is now the responsibility of the French government to draw all the necessary conclusions from this decision and put an end to the tacit protection of the industry at the expense of consumer health.
The “Dieselgate” of waves: a widespread fraud
Since 2016, the NGO has been documenting the #Phonegate scandal. Manufacturers use software to cheat SAR tests. These algorithms are capable of detecting test conditions and artificially reducing the device’s power, much like the rigged engines used by Volkswagen during Dieselgate.
In the laboratory, smartphones appear “compliant.” In real-world use (pocket, ear, hand), they can exceed health safety limits.
Since 2019, the ANFR has requested keys it has never fully obtained
Under pressure from Phonegate Alert, the ANFR began, in 2019, to request that manufacturers provide “deactivation keys” for sensors and algorithms that influence SAR. The goal was clear: to ensure that SAR measurements reflect the real power of the devices without hidden software intervention.
Yet, despite this requirement, hundreds of models—including the entire iPhone range—have been authorized without the full set of these keys and deactivation protocols being provided. In other words, the ANFR knew that software could bypass controls but nevertheless validated the commercialization of these devices.
No full keys = impossible controls
Without access to the full keys and protocols, the ANFR can neither deactivate all algorithms nor independently verify the reality of emissions. It then tests phones whose software behavior it does not control, making the inspections structurally incomplete.
Phonegate Alert considers this a major failure in market surveillance: the State has allowed the sale, in France and the European Union, of devices capable of bypassing tests without having the technical means to truly control them.
Referral to the DGCCRF and request for ANFR inspection
Faced with this failure of controls, Dr. Marc ARAZI, President of Phonegate Alert, has written to the Minister of the Economy and the Director of the DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control). The NGO requests:
- The opening of an investigation by the DGCCRF for misleading commercial practices (notably based on Article L.121-2 of the Consumer Code) and fraud regarding control devices.
- An in-depth inspection of the ANFR to understand why the agency allowed hundreds of models to be marketed without having the necessary software keys for reliable testing.
- The immediate withdrawal, as a precautionary measure, of all models for which manufacturers have not provided the full set of their software deactivation protocols.
“Since 2019, the ANFR has acknowledged that it needs deactivation keys to control manufacturers’ software. Yet, hundreds of models have been authorized without these keys being provided by the industry and thus being usable. We can no longer pretend the problem concerns only one iPhone: this is an industry-wide fraud. We demand that the French State finally act as a protector of citizens, not as a shield for the industry.”