French lawmakers say oui to Olympic video surveillance, but non for faces
- Reference: 1675236610
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/02/01/french_senate_video_surveillance/
- Source link:
The [1]legislation would allow security cameras and drones in and around the stadiums hosting the events as well as in public transportation and on city streets, beginning this spring and continuing until June 30, 2025.
Surveillance footage collected would be processed using an algorithm "whose sole purpose is to detect, in real time, predetermined events likely to present or reveal" security risks – such as terrorist acts or other "serious threats to the safety of persons," according to the proposal.
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This data would then be automatically sent to the police and/or security services so emergency responders can take action, if needed.
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The lawmakers, however, rejected the use of facial recognition technology – or indeed any kind of biometrics that could be used for data analytics.
"This processing does not use any biometric identification system, does not process any biometric data and does not implement any facial recognition technique," the bill says. "They cannot carry out any reconciliation, interconnection or automated linking with other processing of personal data."
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The proposal also calls for "human control measures" to prevent and/or correct any biases in the AI or misuse of the surveillance system.
Although the video monitoring is intended to be a temporary and "experimental," according to the legislation, some data privacy and human rights organizations fear that the government is using the Olympics as an excuse to set up a permanent surveillance system.
"Once all these algorithms have been tested for two years … [and] tens of thousands of agents will have been trained in the use of these algorithms, it seems unlikely that the VSA will be abandoned at the end of 2024," [6]argued NGO La Quadrature du Net, about the Olympic algorithmic video surveillance (VSA).
[7]UK spy agency violated Snooper's Charter with 'unlawful' data retention
[8]Apple should pay €6m to French data watchdog for tracking users without consent, says official
[9]Germany says nein to Qatari World Cup spyware, err, apps
[10]Man wrongly jailed by facial recognition, lawyer claims
Amnesty International France's Katia Roux told The Guardian that the surveillance program raises several human rights red flags.
"We're deeply worried by the fact that these algorithms will be able to analyze images from fixed CCTV cameras or drones to detect 'abnormal or suspect' behavior," Roux [11]said . "First, there is the issue of defining abnormal or suspect behavior – who will decide what behavior is the norm or not?"
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The proposal could also have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, she added.
Additionally, even though the legislation doesn't include facial-recognition technology and says the security monitoring won't use biometric data, "in reality the algorithms will analyze behavior, and physical data, which is data that must be protected." ®
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[1] https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/dossiers/alt/DLR5L16N46918
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y9pGUvSAx2agOegUjX-oKgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y9pGUvSAx2agOegUjX-oKgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y9pGUvSAx2agOegUjX-oKgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y9pGUvSAx2agOegUjX-oKgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.laquadrature.net/2023/01/18/non-a-la-videosurveillance-algorithmique-refusons-larticle-7-de-la-loi-olympique/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/31/mi5_snoopers_charter/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/13/apple_should_be_fined_6mn/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/16/germany_world_cup_apps/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/03/facial_recognition_jail/
[11] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/31/france-paris-olympics-ai-video-surveillance-law?CMP=share_btn_tw
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y9pGUvSAx2agOegUjX-oKgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
At least, I find it somewhat comforting that even our old conservative geezers are blocking generalized facial recognition :)
I agree with your point on the CNIL, they lack resources though.
Seems good to me
Crowd trouble can start up quick and spread real fast, so having real-time feeds that can analyse movement patterns, while blocking the possibility of facial recognition (which is anyway unreliable) is a good way forward to police large crowds.
Re: Seems good to me
I think that it woould already be too late at that point.
Re: Seems good to me
Why too late? I'd say it's the right time to send available emergency teams in that direction.
"Surveillance footage collected would be processed using an algorithm "whose sole purpose is to detect, in real time, predetermined events likely to present or reveal" security risks – such as terrorist acts or other "serious threats to the safety of persons," according to the proposal."
Would that not normally include the facial recognition of known terrorists faces ?
Since the technology already exists I would be very suprised that it is not being used.. France is one of Europe's major targets for terrorists, it would make sense to use the technology, we already saw the results of the Bataclan, they weren't nice.. Does Amnesty International also consider the idea that TV Cameras are filming and diffsusing peoples faces all of the time ?
This is one of those cases where I think that the technology would not be such a bad idea.. It's a public event and it is already being filmed and broadcast to the entire world..
Unless there is another side that I don't see.. I welcome other points of view
You're missing plenty.
First and foremost, that France still cares about privacy and the handling of personal information. There's plenty to do better, but we're not the US.
Known terrorist faces - you mean those grainy, decades-old pictures handed around by governments? Those are not the pawns on the ground, they're leaders, who are staying somewhat safe in caves somewhere. Those committing the acts are not known before they die doing them. So detecting a weapon, or an abandoned backpack under a bench, those are much more useful tasks.
TV cameras: they're filming some people, some of the time, and facial recognition doesn't happen on them. Their main target is the sport event, not spectators, This is very unlike surveillance cameras whose goal is to film everybody's movement, all the time.
In France, the Senate hasn't the last word. The National Assembly does, and can rewrite any line put by Senators into the law.
Our Senate is a congregation of old notables put there to have a nice and long pre-retirement period with plenty of advantages at the cost of the taxpayers. Its only utility is to put a hold on laws for some times, it cannot do more. Senators are not elected directly by the people, ensuring an over representation of the Right. In the last 65 years, the Right had the majority for 62 years. If we could get rid of it, it could be a nice save. However, senators will never scuttle themselves.
About video-surveillance, I'm confident in the role the French Regulator (CNIL) can play. They are independent and with sharp teeth. Even megacorps fear them. If there's a risk about data, CNIL will tell.