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France Sets EU Precedent With 2024 Olympics Surveillance Arsenal (politico.eu) 31

France's AI-powered array of surveillance cameras for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics cleared a final legislative hurdle on Thursday. From a report: The French government wants to experiment with large-scale, real-time camera systems supported by an algorithm to spot suspicious behavior, including unsupervised luggage and triggering alarms to warn of crowd movements like stampedes, for the mega-sports event next year. In a sparsely-attended chamber, French members of parliament approved the controversial bill after more than seven hours of heated debate. The text can still be challenged before the country's top constitutional court. Last week, a group of about 40 European lawmakers -- mainly left-wing -- asked their French counterparts to vote against the text. They warned in a letter that "France would set a surveillance precedent of the kind never before seen in Europe, using the pretext of the [2024 Paris Summer] Olympic games."

In the past few months, the plan was also met with intense pushback from digital rights NGOs, including France's La Quadrature du Net, as well as international groups such as Amnesty International and Access Now. Besides privacy concerns, they pointed out a potential conflict with the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act, which is currently under discussion in Brussels and could limit biometric surveillance. The government argues that algorithmic surveillance cameras are necessary to ensure the safety of the millions of tourists expected to visit Paris next year. During the debates Wednesday evening, lawmakers from President Emmanuel Macron's party claimed AI-powered cameras could have prevented the 2016 Nice terror attack by spotting the truck before it could drive into the crowd. They also said it could have helped avoid the security fiasco at the football Champions League final last summer.

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France Sets EU Precedent With 2024 Olympics Surveillance Arsenal

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  • by Anonymous Coward
    One of many: https://www.britannica.com/spo... [britannica.com]
    • https://www.thenation.com/article/world/tokyo-olympics-bribery-scandal/

      https://www.grunge.com/461215/the-controversial-history-of-the-international-olympic-committee/

      https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/may/11/tokyo-olympic-games-2020-ioc-international-olympic-committee-corruption-bid-scandal

      https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/41248774

  • In France, a highly controversial law about retirement age has just passed, resulting in protests and strikes. I don't recommend going to France right now if you can avoid it. Despite the protests, safety is not really an issue, but catching your connecting flight may be.

    And when people talk about retirement, they don't talk about surveillance...

    • Re:Context (Score:4, Informative)

      by AncalagonTotof ( 1025748 ) on Friday March 24, 2023 @10:31AM (#63396129)

      In addition, please note that our delightful police hit, gas, and jail anybody without any cause.
      Just an example : two 15 y.o. Austrians, in scholar visit in Paris, have been arrested and jailed. Austria embassy had to take action.

      There will be dead soon. On both sides.
      Macron is out of control. He takes pleasure taunting protester, like he did Wednesday noon, live on TV.

      Please send Blue Helmets [wikipedia.org]. Serious. We have no police any more, just fascist brainless hateful dogs.

    • Wet ones, smelly ones, Garlic ones , can be silent and deadly. In the Monty Pyton collection 'We fart in your general direction'.
  • Bienvenue en Chine
  • They really are idiotic to not understand living in a surveillance state is actually worse than one attack every couple years. I just don't understand humanity why does it race to the bottom of every damn issue out there in the name of "safety"
  • Ongoing protests against pensions law show that in France, government is not accountable. Good luck to make it give up CCTV.

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