ARTICLE 19 and 37 other civil society organisations have written to France’s National Assembly to express opposition to a proposed law for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. If passed, the law will allow the use of algorithm-driven cameras to detect specific suspicious events in public spaces, paving the way for the use of invasive algorithm-driven video surveillance.

The groups argue the proposed surveillance measures, set out in Article 7 of the new law, will violate international human rights law, as they contravene the principles of necessity and proportionality, and pose unacceptable risks to fundamental rights, such as the right to privacy, the freedom of assembly and association, and the right to non-discrimination.

The organisations call on the French government to reject Article 7 and to engage with civil society on the matter in order to avoid setting a worrying precedent of unjustified and disproportionate surveillance in publicly accessible spaces.

Read the letter on the Le Monde website 

Signatories: