For the first time in France, video protection cameras equipped with an artificial intelligence system and intended to strengthen the security of the Paris Olympics will be tested, on a full-scale scale, on March 3 and 5, on the occasion of the concert of the group Dépêche Mode in Paris.
In total, six cameras will be deployed during this event, on the public highway around the Accor-Arena performance hall in Bercy, under the control of the Police Prefecture.
For the moment, specified the Ministry of the Interior, the objective is to carry out a series of “
calibrations
” to “
evaluate the operational capacities
” of this technical solution intended in theory to be put in place from the ceremony of opening of the Games.
Numerous safeguards
There are numerous safeguards put in place around this algorithmic solution combining cameras and “AI”.
In addition to the ban on facial recognition, its designers provided that its use would only be authorized for eight specific objectives, including the detection of suspicious “
crowd movements
”, “
crossing fences
”, “
starts of fires”.
» or even “
the presence of a person in a prohibited area
”.
“
The use of these intelligent cameras will not be authorized for the entire JOP but event by event, by prefectural decree depending on the risks assessed on a case-by-case basis
”, we specify to the Ministry of the Interior which assimilates this tool technological to “
an aid to the analysis of video images making it possible to verify the smooth running of the event and to resolve doubts
”.
Furthermore, the text of the law stipulates that the Minister of the Interior will be obliged to organize “
general information to the public on the use of algorithmic processing on images collected by means of video protection systems and cameras installed on aircraft
”.
To allay the fears of associations brandishing the scarecrow of “Big Brother”, the impact study of the Olympic law specifies that
“live viewing of all the images captured by video surveillance cameras is physically impossible” .
The document also recalls, still
“by way of example”,
that
“the video protection plan of the Paris police headquarters was based, in 2020, on 3,762 cameras belonging to the police headquarters and 37,800 cameras belonging to third-party authorities.
No facial recognition or biometrics
Authorized by the Olympic law of May 2023, “
this system will not be sustainable
”, the same source insists.
It will be evaluated at the end of the tests, at the beginning of September, both in terms of its operational interest and strict respect for public freedoms.
Events under surveillance must in particular be filmed without using facial recognition or biometric techniques, in accordance with a formal commitment by the government to the national representation.
On Friday February 16, Gérald Darmanin installed an independent evaluation committee, chaired by Christian Vigouroux, a senior civil servant who chaired the interior section of the Council of State from 2014 to 2016. This body will be composed of two colleges bringing together users as well as qualified personalities, the list of which will be published in the coming days.
The CNIL will also be involved, as well as deputies and senators, half of whom will come from the ranks of the opposition.
A market worth eight million euros
Place Beauvau awarded the public contract for algorithmic video surveillance of the Games to four companies, for a total amount of eight million euros.
Three of the lots correspond to geographical sectors (Île-de-France, Rhône-Alpes and Corsica-Auvergne-Outre-Mer), the last being reserved for transport.
Each batch therefore provides for “
the provision of an algorithmic solution
”, its installation and dismantling as well as the training of “
field players
” such as national and municipal police officers, gendarmes, security services of the SNCF and the RATP.
Among the companies selected is the Chapsvision group, a specialist in data analysis (Hauts-de-Seine) which offers a French alternative solution to the American giant Palantir, which many intelligence services have had to call on.
The first lessons will be learned from the tests carried out at the beginning of March at Paris-Bercy, with the Ministry of the Interior specifying that this technical experiment “
can in no way be the subject of an arrest based on images selected by artificial intelligence
".
For the moment, pending the return of technical expertise, the authorities are not yet able to indicate the number of intelligent cameras which will be deployed from July 26 to August 11.
One thing is certain, this device equipped with “AI” is not adapted to all the mesh currently used and only “dedicated cameras” will be able to shoot with one objective: keeping a sharper eye on the safety of millions of spectators who will participate in the Olympic celebration.
This article was originally published on February 16, 2024