The Olympic Games Bill provides for experimentation with “intelligent” algorithms. The goal ? Detect particular situations, to intervene. The test would extend well after the Paris Olympics in 2024.
If no facial recognition will be mobilized during the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, the government nevertheless intends to advance its pawns on certain other security subjects. This is reflected in the bill relating to the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2024, presented on December 22 in the Council of Ministers.
Among the nineteen articles appearing in this text, which must be examined in the Senate from January 24, 2023, there are experiments and derogations, some of which could well last beyond the duration of the competition – until almost a year after the end of the sports meetings. Until June 2025.
The Paris Olympic Games are scheduled from July 26 to August 11, 2024. Then will come the Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8, 2024. In order for all the legislative and regulatory provisions to be ready on time, the government wants Parliament decides (favorably) on its text during the first half of 2023.
Algorithms to detect “abnormal” situations
The bill was not posted on the websites of the National Assembly and the Senate as of December 22. However, Le Monde was able to consult the nineteen articles. It confirms the use of artificial intelligence algorithms to detect situations known as ” abnormal — faces will not be identified, but the general behavior of the crowd will be scrutinized.
In its communication, the executive refers to algorithmic processing ” accompanied by numerous guarantees for the rights of individuals “, but necessary to facilitate ” identification of dangerous situations for safety “. This analysis via camera images will target sports arenas, the surroundings of stadiums, but also public transport.
The use of algorithms has already been mentioned in recent months by Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports, and by her colleague in the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. Everything would therefore be done anonymously, according to criteria to be defined, but in which we would find crowd movements, damage to property or attacks on people.
To show that there is no problem, the minister recalled that this text will have to be examined by the Council of State and the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (Cnil) “ before being implemented “. However, it is not a flower, but an obligation, especially if it is a bill. It must be analyzed by the Council of State and an impact study.
According to the version of the text examined by Le Monde, these algorithms should not lead to an individual decision or an act of prosecution. It is a question of proceeding exclusively for an attention signal, strictly limited to the indication of the event(s) they have been programmed to detect “. The scope of the text is likely to evolve over the course of its legislative journey.
