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[EN] France, first european country to legalize biometric surveillance.

Banner picture of La Quadrature Du Net's article [IMG]

France, first european country to legalize biometric surveillance.

The article 7 of the Law on Olympic Games' organization has been adopted by the national parliament, "Assemblée Nationale", formalizing the introduction of Algorithmic Video-Surveillance (AVS) in french Law, until December 2024. Thanks to the fuss regarding the retirements reform and an expeditive-as-usual process, **French government made acceptable one of the most dangerous technology ever deployed**. Using lies and fake storytellings, it avoided the technical, political and judicial consequences in terms of mass surveillance. Supported by the governmental majority and far-right parties, AVS has been legalized backed by lies, undermining the democratic game ever more.

As police brutalities overwhelm our screens, and police, armed with clubs, assures the after-sales service of the most impopular regulations, the increasing police surveillance participates to a global strategy to stifle any contestation.

These schemes allowing the State to divert the reality of its surveillance prerogatives must be denounced. Particularly in a context where the meaning of words are deliberately twisted to make us believe that "surveillance is protection", that "security is freedom", and "democracy is a forcing through". **It is necessary to expose and counter this fake democratic game, and to ever question the extraordinary powers given to the french police.** No need to talk about a "chinese" dystopia to realize the height of the stakes. Better look in France's history and present political climate to take the measure and understand the twenty years long security drift : always more cameras, surveillance and databases, while depoliticizing social stakes, and a loss of sense amongst politics in charge. **As a result, the Olympics' law debates shed the light on the political disorientation of decision-makers, unable to question these issues.**

This first legalization of automated video-surveillance is **a winning step for French security industry.** Those who've been asking for years to test their algorithms on the people, to improve them and sell the technologies worldwide, are now satisfied. Soon, Thales, XXII, Two-I and Neuroo, **will soon be allowed to sell biometric softwares** to other states, like Idemia sold[9] its facial recognition software to China. The startup XXII couldn't even wait the law to be voted to loudly announce[10] she raised 22 million euros to become, in its own words "the european leader" of AVS.

The institutions in charge of preserving liberties, such as the CNIL, are totally failing. Born in 1978 gifted with real and efficient counter powers to document the governmental surveillance ambitions, it is now the after-sales service of governmental regulations and carefully helps companies to use a "good" surveillance, in order to preserve the industry's economical interests, without any consideration about collective rights and liberties.

This legal event creates a precedent and opens the gates to every other biometric surveillance technologies: algorithmic audio-surveillance, facial recognition, biometric tracking...

We won't give up the fight and will keep denouncing government's lies, we'll be present as soon as the first experimentation will start to document the inevitable abuses these technologies lead to. We will find ways to contest them in courts and will fight for these experimentation to remain temporary and prevent making them durable. And we'll keep refusing these technologies and the Technopolice they incorporate, by fighting on a european level[11] to obtain their interdiction.

So if you want to help us in this struggle, stay tuned for what we'll be up to in the month to come and if you can, donate[12].

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Translated by Kholah

Original article by La Quadrature Du Net

Made with ❤ and #datalove

1: https://www.laquadrature.net/2023/03/23/la-france-premier-pays-deurope-a-legaliser-la-surveillance-biometrique/

2: https://www.laquadrature.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/02/Dossier-VSA-2-LQDN.pdf

3: https://video.lqdn.fr/w/wB6M6CHdfpWXpozVnqjbde

4: https://www.laquadrature.net/2023/03/07/38-organisations-internationales-contre-la-surveillance-biometrique/

5: https://www.patrick-breyer.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Lettre-des-eurodepute.e.s-contre-la-surveillance-biometrique-de-masse-dans-la-loi-sur-les-JO2024.pdf

6: https://www.laquadrature.net/2023/03/21/fiasco-du-stade-de-france-la-vsa-ne-masquera-pas-les-echecs-du-maintien-de-lordre/

7: https://www.laquadrature.net/2023/03/16/jo-securitaires-le-podium-des-incompetents/

8: https://www.laquadrature.net/2023/02/23/surveillance-biometrique-infiltration/

9: https://www.amnesty.org/fr/latest/press-release/2020/09/eu-surveillance-sales-china-human-rights-abusers/

10: https://twitter.com/XXII_GROUP/status/1638099428954329088

11: https://edri.org/our-work/european-parliament-calls-loud-and-clear-for-a-ban-on-biometric-mass-surveillance-in-ai-act/

12: https://www.laquadrature.net/donner/