2024-05-03 11:18:02
The “experiment” with algorithmic video surveillance (VSA) inside the framework set by the “Olympic Video games” legislation adopted final 12 months will not be one: it’s only a hypocritical maneuver supposed to legalize in small steps a police infrastructure already massively deployed in France. To counter this technique, La Quadrature du Internet is as we speak launching a marketing campaign aimed toward fueling widespread opposition to VSA, a know-how based mostly on “Synthetic Intelligence” methods which quantities to fixed and automatic management of public areas, and which marks a historic turning level in state surveillance. A grievance was additionally filed with the CNIL as a way to denounce the hypocrisy of the promoters of the VSA and level out the negligence of the private knowledge safety authority.
The pretext of the Olympic Video games
In latest days, the nation’s police companies and the safety companies of transport firms have legally recourse on the VSA1. On the finish of April, citing giant influxes of individuals linked to soccer matches or live shows, the Paris police headquarters approved the SNCF and the RATP to make use of the startup’s applied sciences. Wintics pour cross feeds from a whole bunch of cameras put in in sure Parisian prepare and metro stations2. These “experiments” will proceed till March 2025inside the authorized framework established by the legislation referring to the Olympic Video games adopted final 12 months3.
By no means thoughts the derisory effectivity of those automated surveillance methods of public areas. For the Ministry of the Inside, industrialists and their political relays, these experiments serve above all to divert consideration, whereason the similar time, a whole bunch of VSA methods have been illegally used for years by the State, native authorities or transport authorities. Additionally it is regarding forgetting that on the intersection of financial, electoral and authoritarian pursuits, the promoters of the Technopolice have been working for years to impose the VSA in all places on the territory.
The more severe is but to return
In reality, the legislation tasks aimed toward perpetuating VSA by utilizing essentially the most delicate functions – similar to real-time facial recognition in public areas or automated video reporting of small offenses – are for some already within the bins.
The Transport invoice is an ideal instance: the Nationwide Meeting is making ready to debate this proposal pushed by the senatorial proper and aimed toward legalizing VSA in transport. The federal government helps the parliamentary initiative because it activated the accelerated process on this textual content, with out even ready for the evaluations imposed by the OJ legislation4.
Moreover, in June 2023, lower than three months following the adoption of the JO legislation, the Senate took up an experimental challenge first matured by the Macronist majority by adopting a invoice offering for a three-year experiment in facial recognition coupled with video surveillance. “Too early,” the federal government basically responded, believing that the political circumstances weren’t met and preferring to stay to a technique of small steps.5.
Denounce the ambient hypocrisy
To higher illustrate the hypocrisy of the “experiments” linked to the JO legislation, La Quadrature du Internet has simply filed a grievance earlier than the CNIL towards a very unlawful deployment of the VSA and remained largely below the radar: the challenge Forestall PCP.
Associating SNCF and RATP with a panel of firms, together with the Atos group and ChapsVision (each additionally suppliers of experiments linked to the JO legislation), Forestall PCP formally takes the type of a public contract sponsored by the European Union. In observe, firms see their VSA methods deployed in main stations throughout Europe to detect “deserted baggage”, through a way based mostly onidentification and monitoring of bags house owners. In France, these VSA methods have been deployed for months within the Gare du Nord and the Gare de Lyon in Paris or, extra just lately, within the Marseille-Saint-Charles station.
Due to the weather delivered to mild by the groupe native Technopolice MarseilleLa Quadrature du Internet due to this fact filed a grievance earlier than the CNIL towards this challenge, which is only one instance amongst a whole bunch of unlawful VSA deployments in France. By this method, it’s a query of returning the authority accountable for the safety of non-public knowledge to the position that it ought to have, whereas it permits unlawful VSA tasks to proliferate whereas supporting the legalization course of. This grievance additionally highlights the hypocrisy of the protagonists of Forestall PCP : regardless that they’re collaborating within the VSA experiment offered for by the JO legislation, SNCF, RATP, Atos and ChapsVision are concurrently engaged in deployments devoid of any authorized foundation.
Fueling widespread opposition to the VSA
At present, La Quadrature du Internet can be launching numerous instruments supposed to gasoline mobilizations towards the VSA within the coming months, and resist its deliberate legalization. A brochure detailed rationalization explaining the hazards of VSA, in addition to posters supposed to tell the inhabitants can be found on this marketing campaign web page devotedwhich will likely be enriched within the weeks and months to return6.
This marketing campaign towards VSA is a part of the initiative Technopolice, launched in 2019 by La Quadrature to withstand new police surveillance applied sciences. The Technopolice website gives a public discussion board in addition to a participatory documentation platform (referred to as the “sq.”), free to make use of and supposed to prepare and unite native collectives opposed to those applied sciences.
To make clear the prefectural decrees which regionally authorize VSA inside the framework of the JO legislation, we have now additionally launched a Mastodon account, Catch’Surveillance, which analyzes collections of administrative acts from prefectures and broadcasts alerts when police surveillance authorizations are detected. It’s this technique which made it attainable to establish the primary VSA orders in mid-April. Within the coming weeks, it would enable us to be told of VSA experiments approved by the prefects as a way to denounce them.
By all means, we want assert our refusal of everlasting management of our actionsdenounce these experiments, doc the unlawful tasks which proceed to proliferate, and set up ourselves regionally to defeat the Technopolice. Collectively, let’s struggle in order that public house doesn’t completely remodel into a spot of police repression, in order that our cities and villages are areas of freedom, creativity and encounters!
To observe the newest information from La Quadrature and observe this marketing campaign towards the VSA, you possibly can subscribe to our e-newsletter.
- See our article dedicated to the primary prefectural decrees authorizing the usage of the VSA: https://www.laquadrature.internet/2024/04/17/experimentation-de-la-vsa-les-premieres-autorisations-sont-tombees/. ↩︎
- The classes of occasions to be recognized by VSA methods embody a few of the classes offered for by the 2023 legislation, on this case: crossing or presence of an individual in a prohibited or delicate zone, extreme density of individuals, motion crowds, presence of deserted objects. ↩︎
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- Guillaume Jacquot. “Transport: the Senate adopts a invoice that strengthens the safety arsenal, with the assist of the federal government”. Public Senate, February 14, 2024. https://www.publicsenat.fr/actualites/territoires/transports-le-senat-adopte-une-proposition-de-loi-qui-renforce-larsenal-de-securite-avec-le-soutien-du-gouvernement. ↩︎
- Simon Barbarit, “Facial recognition: the Senate adopts a invoice to experiment with this know-how”. Public Senate, June 12, 2023. https://www.publicsenat.fr/actualites/politique/reconnaissance-faciale-le-senat-adopte-une-proposition-de-loi-pour-experimenter-cette-technologie. ↩︎
- The marketing campaign web page is accessible on the following deal with: https://www.laquadrature.internet/vsa. ↩︎
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