On the occasion of the Olympic Games, so-called “intelligent” or “augmented” cameras will multiply on the territory. They are supposed to help law enforcement but are denounced by defenders of individual freedoms.
It is a tool supposed to help the police, but denounced by the defenders of individual freedoms: the so-called “intelligent” cameras will multiply on the territory, on the occasion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. what in any case provides for the bill debated in the National Assembly from Monday March 20 until Thursday March 23 after being adopted by the Senate in January. The text authorizes the large-scale experimentation of these “augmented” cameras within the framework of the Olympic Games.
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What is it about ? When we talk about “augmented camera”, or “intelligent camera”, we are mainly talking about the software used to analyze the flow of images in real time. This software is based on algorithms developed by well-known companies, such as Thalès, or young companies such as start-ups. This is the case of Wintics, in Paris, which has been deploying its technology since 2020 in stations, airports or city centers.
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A limit: facial recognition
“We only taught our algorithm to recognize objects, says Mathias Houllier, one of the founders of the company. This means that we are able to recognize a person, a bicycle, a car, a truck, a parcel, a piece of luggage. But not to identify a person who would be on a pedestrian path that welcomes the public as part of the Olympics.
No facial recognition: this is the limit imposed by the GDPR, the European regulation on data protection. The software is therefore used more for statistical purposes, for example to count vehicles in a street. But of course they can also be useful for identifying adverse events.
“The algorithm is able to detect a car or a truck that represents a possible threat and it can notify a video operator so that it can mobilize personnel and react in real time.”
Mathias Houllierat franceinfo
At a time when the number of surveillance cameras is multiplying in the streets, these devices are therefore presented as assistants capable of warning the police in the event of an anomaly.
In fact, these technologies are already in use: from Reims to Marseille via Montargis, some municipalities have not waited for this OJ 2024 bill. They are testing or have tested this software, sometimes outside of any legal framework, in the words of the Cnil, the policeman of personal data.
4,000 cameras already deployed in Nice
Among the municipalities campaigning for smart cameras is Nice, where a hundred municipal police officers take turns to scrutinize the images provided by 4,000 cameras.
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“We are here in the school surveillance room, explain in situ Grégory Pezet, head of the urban supervision center. In this room there is an operator who will take care of the video-verbalization. With this technology that we have put in our cameras over six years, we currently have an alarm raised on a vehicle that will remain parked on a cycle path for more than a minute. The operator will then take direct control and clear the doubt. If it is confirmed that the vehicle is in violation on the cycle path, it will be fined.
Another experiment carried out in Nice: the detection of unauthorized dumping of garbage in the streets. “Today, we see that these experiments work and that they are reliable, defends Anthony Borré, the first deputy mayor of Nice. And it’s true that when you have 4,000 cameras, it obviously requires a detection tool to be effective.”
Risks of violations of individual freedoms
The defenders of individual freedoms are far from being of the same opinion. For example, the Cnil evokes new risks for the rights and freedoms of individuals and organizations such as the Consultative Commission on Human Rights call on deputies to reject the article of the law which provides for these experiments.
“Even without facial recognition, anyone walking by in the middle of a group or crowd will likely have been spotted by this software, opposes Jean-Marie Burgburu, the president of the CNCDH. This is a serious risk for the respect of fundamental rights in our country. The risk of these experimental and provisional security laws is that they last.
And precisely, this experimentation with smart cameras does not only concern the Olympic Games since the bill authorizes it until June 30, 2025. An evaluation report will also have to be submitted to Parliament to take stock of these technologies and possibly develop a suitable law.