How much of public debt is fake and should be *cancelled*? "Historically, the population has never been properly informed regarding the public debt that it pays for through government spending …public debt has not been used to finance collective needs…it has been a mechanism to transfer public resources to the private financial sector. This is what we call the “Debt System” – this use of public debt in reverse with a view to diminishing resources rather than buttressing them.… In light of the influence of the financial sector over the majority of governments, one of our tasks is to carry out a citizen audit, gathering together the evidence and legal arguments required for the cancellation of illegal and illegitimate debts." Debt cancellation following a citizen public debt audit is one of the policy proposals put forward by the degrowth movement, drawing inspiration from civic movements that have successfully pushed for debt audits, such as the Spanish Citizen Debt Audit Platform (PACD). This pdf explains the reasons and processes for citizen debt audit, with case studies + a chapter on methodology and legal issues.