While the device was only to be used for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, algorithmic video surveillance will ultimately be generalized across the country by the new Government.
Are surveillance cameras the future of everyday security? The new Government led by Michel Barnier seems rather favorable to a generalization of the video surveillance system used during the last Olympic Games. Paris 2024.
These state-of-the-art cameras are notably equipped with “intelligent image analysis software that can detect predetermined events in real time”. This is the description that we could read during the deployment of augmented video surveillance within the “Olympic and Paralympic Games” law of 2024 and adopted at the beginning of 2023. The device was notably used during the Games events. , but also during several concerts such as those of Taylor Swift and Dépêche Mode.
Initially planned to maintain security during the Games, this video surveillance will finally be generalized after a first extension of the law which carried the project until March 31, 2025.
Following his general policy declaration made on Tuesday October 1, the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier declared that he wanted a “generalization of the method experimented during the Olympic Games”. A decision which reverses previous declarations from the Ministry of the Interior which promised that the experiment would not go beyond the extension already established.
On the side of the Paris police, this declaration is notably approved by the current prefect Laurent Nunes who draws a positive assessment of it during the experimentation of the Games. However, it will be necessary to ensure that this algorithmic video surveillance can respect the digital freedoms of citizens, particularly in terms of GDPR and the protection of personal data.