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MPs authorize algorithmic video surveillance before, during and after the Games

The Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP), Amélie Oudéa-Castéra had mentioned “some twenty-five guarantees”on March 1 during a hearing at the National Assembly. “There are twenty-eight guarantees”for his part declared the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on Wednesday March 22 before the deputies, about the experimentation of so-called “intelligent” video surveillance, which the government wants to institute through the bill “relating to to the JOP and containing various other provisions” – already adopted by the Senate.

If Mr. Darmanin has set out these guarantees one by one, and if article 7 of the bill authorizing experimentation with the processing by algorithms of images captured by cameras or drones, was adopted on Thursday by the National Assembly at the end of long discussions (59 votes for, 14 votes against), the framework measures put forward did not bring down the prejudices of elected officials on the left. “Privacy will still take a big hit”denounced Elisa Martin (La France insoumise).

An experiment that does not only concern the Games

“Exceptional situation, exceptional means”justified Mr. Darmanin about this experimentation with algorithmic video surveillance, the term “exceptional situation” referring to the JOP of the summer of 2024.

However, the implementation of this technique will not only concern the Games: it will apply to “sporting, recreational or cultural events” in general, who by their scale or their circumstances, are particularly exposed to the risk of acts of terrorism or serious threats to the safety of persons”.

The experiment could also begin as soon as the law is promulgated – it should be applicable for example from the Rugby World Cup this autumn – and it will extend beyond the Games, until the end of December 2024. .

The deputies reduced this test period which, initially, was to extend until the end of June 2025. The elected representatives of the National Rally sought to restrict it even more, by asking that the use of this algorithmic processing, which they are in favor of, is limited to JOPs alone. Without success.

Read also: Paris 2024: the deputies bring back to the end of 2024 the end of the experimentation of “intelligent” video surveillance

“What is abnormal behavior? »

“Exceptional event, exceptional means”agreed the socialist deputy Roger Vicot, but to add immediately that it does not come down to “ask for a blank cheque”. It aimed at the definition that will be given to the ” abnormal behavior” that the algorithmic video surveillance systems will be supposed to detect. “You tell us ‘Trust us, a future decree will determine it.’ That’s not the way to do things.”. “Abnormal behavior is blurry”, echoed him Sandra Regol (Europe Ecology-The Greens).

“It’s about having a decision-making tool for law enforcement, it’s not about recognizing people who have this or that profile, or hoodies, but predetermined situations , such as outbreaks of fire, bottlenecks, abandoned packages or crowd movements”replied, on several occasions, Mr. Darmanin.

“An operator will decide if it deserves an intervention”insisted the Minister of the Interior, while assuring, as the government has been doing for weeks, that it is not a question of setting up “facial recognition and biometric processing”.

But not everyone puts the same thing behind this term biometric processing. “The Defender of Rights explicitly recalled that the detection of so-called abnormal behavior was based on biometric dataunderlined Lisa Belluco (Europe Ecology-The Greens). The algorithm will make it possible to recognize people, without necessarily identifying them. Recognize means providing a description detailed enough to enable officers in the field to locate a person”.

A regulation expected at European level

On March 17, some forty MEPs, overwhelmingly from the Greens, S&D (Social Democrats) and Unitary Left groups, wrote to their French counterparts to ask them to oppose the vote on this article 7. They argue that by adopting this provision, without waiting for the results of the debates at European level, France “risk of coming into conflict with European law” to come on artificial intelligence.

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Ce “settlement is being negotiated, and there is a majority in favor of a strict ban on biometric mass surveillance”they added, recalling that the European Parliament, in a report in 2021, “precursor of the law on artificial intelligence”called ” to “the permanent prohibition of the use of automated analysis (…), human characteristics (…), and other biometric and behavioral signals””.

This argument was put forward by Ugo Bernalicis (La France insoumise): “You feel that bans could be decided on at European level, but you want France, strong in the system it will have adopted, to exert all its weight so that the European Union comes to its positions”launched this one.

“In April, a European regulation will be promulgated” on the use of artificial intelligence, which “a priori will not go in your direction, because the Member States of the European Union are mainly opposed to it”, added Elisa Martin, considering that it would have been “wise to wait” before voting.

“The European Parliament’s vote will probably only take place at the end of 2023 and the text will only come into effect from 2025”challenged Philippe Latombe (MoDem). “It’s not about pre-transposition here, it’s about protecting the Olympics and ensuring the safety of those who attend,” added the MP, who is leading an information mission on “the challenges of using security images in the public domain for the purpose of combating insecurity”.

The whole of the bill “relating to the JOP and containing various other provisions” must give rise to a solemn vote of the deputies on Tuesday 28 March.

A selection of our articles relating to video surveillance

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