Proposed law on algorithmic video surveillance: warnings ignored as fundamental rights and freedoms are threatened

An experiment that was in fact never an experiment

As La Quadrature du Net pointed out yesterday, the draft law under discussion calls for an extension of the ongoing algorithmic video surveillance experiment until 2027. In our note published in 2023, we denounced the excessive duration of this experiment until March 31, 2025, i.e. almost two years between the vote on the law and the end of the experiment. By announcing an extension until 2027, we are assuming to open the Pandora’s box of surveillance, since “it is rare for these so-called ‘exceptional’ measures to be lifted quickly. Instead, surveillance and control measures are becoming the norm”, as Amnesty International recently pointed out.

Warnings ignored

Warnings from associations such as ours, independent authorities such as the CNIL (France’s data protection authority), and the Cour des Comptes (the French Court of Auditors) have all been ignored. In the absence of any evaluation of the experimentation (although expected in March 2025), the legislator’s haste is worrying, as it shows either the ignorance of the possible consequences of deploying algorithmic video surveillance (invasion of privacy, abuses in the processing of sensitive data by non-competent authorities, stigmatisation of certain individuals, etc.), or the knowledge of these, and therefore an assumed desire to ignore the warnings and possible conclusions of the evaluation report.

The rule of law cannot ignore existing safeguards

Renaissance Numérique calls on the legislator not to extend the (technological, temporal and spatial) scope of the algorithmic video surveillance experiments provided for by the Olympic Games law, without a reasoned and proportionate approach. It is essential that the laws governing these technologies be strictly controlled to protect our fundamental rights and freedoms.

Our country has established democratic safeguards, represented in particular by the CNIL and the Cour des Comptes, both of which should be involved and listened to more systematically. In view of the risks posed by this text, Renaissance Numérique calls on the public authorities to restore the balance between the imperative of security and that of respecting fundamental rights and freedoms.