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Video length: 4 min
Security: what are the limits to video surveillance?
Security: what are the limits to video surveillance? – (France 2)
To deal with delinquency and incivility, cities are developing their own remote surveillance network. In Nîmes (Gard), a control room called an urban hypervisor makes it possible to analyze images, act, repress and launch prosecutions.
In French cities, surveillance cameras are more and more numerous. Discreet, they are capable of observing every move. This race for equipment could give rise, in the near future, to technologies capable of analyzing and interpreting these images.
Are these cameras installed to protect us or monitor us?
Nîmes is one of the cities with the most cameras, with more than 600 on its counter. Now, they are all connected to the urban hypervisor, a brand new control room. Security, traffic, environment: all information passes through this location, allowing intervention times to be halved. According to some, the very presence of cameras would have a deterrent effect. A similar system has existed for 5 years in Dijon. It allows several offenses to be reported remotely, if a municipal police officer makes the decision.
Among our sources:
- figures given by the review of the Public Investment Bank (BPI):
90,000 surveillance cameras in French streets – Tags – Le magazine de la Bpi
- information report on the use of images in public spaces by two deputies (April 2023):
Information report n°1089 – 16th legislature – National Assembly (assemblee-nationale.fr)
- Senate report on facial recognition (May 2022):
r21-6271.pdf (senat.fr)
- list of the most video-monitored municipalities / La Gazette des Communes (February 2020):
The list of the 50 largest video-surveiled cities (lagazettedescommunes.com)
Non-exhaustive list
