Installed in October 2021 in the city of Orléans, sound sensors coupled with surveillance cameras should no longer be used, due to lack of a legal framework.
Technology evolves, and the fear of seeing our society drift towards that depicted in the novel 1984 by George Orwell grows from year to year. This does not prevent public authorities and many companies from trying to innovate in the field of surveillance, for better or for worse, if an objective assessment can be given.
The capital of the Centre-Val de Loire region tried its hand at the exercise by seeking to increase the capacities of its surveillance cameras. However, she perhaps did not anticipate receiving a call to order from the CNIL.
Give ears to the cameras
In partnership with a local start-up, Sensivic, the town hall of Orléans has equipped cameras responsible for monitoring four places in its town with hearing capabilities. In the form of white boxes, these microphones are intended to recognize certain specific sounds. Gunshots, explosions, accidents, and even screams are among the noises. abnormal » which the company is able to identify, then locate to enable video surveillance devices to be automatically oriented in their direction.
The privacy watchdog is, however, not satisfied with this system, considering that the link between video surveillance and audio surveillance affects “ processing of personal data “. In addition, he recalls that there is no legal framework surrounding this type of practice in France. Indeed, ” the applicable provisions of the Internal Security Code […] only provide the possibility of installing video protection systems without sound capture “, he explains.
Thus, Sensivic’s devices were declared illegal by the CNIL, marking a first victory for La Quadrature du Net. It was this association which contacted the commission, mainly pointing the finger at the agreement signed between the company and the town hall of Orléans. At the same time, she filed a complaint with the administrative court, which is the only one that can force the municipality not to continue its experiment.
A legal framework as a safeguard
For Florent Montillot, deputy mayor of Orléans in charge of security, it is a “ totally outdated, ridiculous controversy “. According to him, the partnership with Sensivic aims to better “ protect people » thanks to the use of new technologies. The elected official also explained to the newspaper The world that the objective of the town hall “ has never been about identifying people, but situations in order to be able to react to them as effectively as possible “. For the moment, the city has decoupled the video surveillance systems and the microphones, which are now only used to train the start-up’s algorithm.
For his part, the marketing director of Sensivic, Hervé Zandrowicz, wants to be reassuring. “ All sounds that are picked up by the microphones are immediately translated into metadata “, he explains. Moreover, the recordings are very short, on the order of a millisecond, and can therefore hardly be used to obtain private information. Finally, the data would not be kept by either the company or the town hall.
However, these arguments were not sufficient to influence the CNIL’s judgment. It remains to be seen how this case could influence a possible adapted legal framework. technical characteristics and challenges » of such technology, adds the organization.
Earlier in the year, he had already had to look into a similar file, concerning the use of drones by the gendarmerie. Surveillance is therefore taking a new turn in France, and we will know soon enough if the courts, the government and elected officials will heed the CNIL’s warnings.
Source : France 3
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