Will our faces soon be analyzed by an algorithm when entering the stadium? According to journalist Olivier Tesquet, author of the book “On the Trail”, FC Metz is testing a facial recognition device in its Saint-Symphorien stadium. The experiment, which appeals to many supporters, questions about the possibilities it generates. Explanations.
What's going on in Metz?
For several weeks, the employees of the Metz-based start-up Two-I have been busy at the Saint-Symphorien stadium. The purpose of their presence? Test their facial recognition system around the enclosure. Ultimately and if the technology is effective, the club promoted in Ligue 1 last summer wants to use it to prevent the supporters it has banished from its precincts by a commercial ban on stadiums, authorized by law since 2016.
“Professional clubs have very little means to ensure that these people stay outside their stadium, says FC Metz general manager Hélène Schrub. With facial recognition, the video system would alert us if one of them showed up at the entrance (to the stadium). It would be for those people, but we wouldn't have a file of all of our supporters. In addition, it would be an aid to human decision, there would always be a check in the field after the video analysis. "
Is the system legal?
The experiment as presented by the club? Yes, as long as the tests are done “blank” on the employees of the start-up. “We had feedback from supporters who were asked on a match day to remove caps, in particular, to be recognizable. As if we were testing the system live, ”says Pierre Barthélemy, lawyer for the National Association of Supporters (ANS), who is opposed to the project. False, replies FC Metz, who explains that it was just a question of checking for the possible presence of smoke.
And to move from theory to practice? The opinion of the (Cnil) is authoritative. This grants authorization on a case-by-case basis to the various facial recognition projects in the territory. At the Nice carnival with a group of volunteers? Yes. In testing in front of two high schools in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region? It's no.
Is it reliable?
The Lorraine club ensures that the first tests carried out by the start-up are rather conclusive. But in the field, similar experiences have not always met with great success. In 2017, Welsh police deployed their facial recognition system on the sidelines of the Champions League final in Cardiff. Result: 92% of reports made that evening were incorrect. Clearly, the system linked the photo of a supporter under surveillance to the wrong person.
Concrete problems, pointed out by the CNIL in a report published in November 2019. “This technology currently has significant biases: experiments carried out in France and around the world have for example demonstrated that the error rates committed by recognition algorithms facial could vary with gender or skin color, "said the commission.
Will Ligue 1 convert to facial recognition?
"We don't have a fixed calendar, but we don't want to wait ten years to use it," warns Hélène Schrub. In the wake of FC Metz, could French professional clubs follow the movement? On a European scale, it is difficult to speak of a craze for the moment since only a few local initiatives in Belgium and Denmark have been identified.
"For the most part, French stadiums are well equipped with video, it could be a next step in securing our stadiums, says a Ligue 1 leader, but hey, the subject is sensitive and given the number of supporters it would concern , I don't know if it's worth it. "
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For its part, the CNIL warns and explains that it cannot validate a system "without demonstrating the inadequacy of other less intrusive means of security". Understand that each club will have to prove the absolute necessity to scan the faces of its supporters.
