French President Emmanuel Macron openly declares his intention to make his country a “champion of artificial intelligence,” and Paris aims to become the AI capital of the world. Recognizing faces in real time, interpreting emotions, categorizing religious, sexual and political thoughts – Macron’s government is actively lobbying to allow these practices under the Artificial Intelligence Act.
In France, prior to the Olympics, the use of algorithmic video surveillance by police was only authorized in very rare cases. The sporting event gave the government the opportunity to pass a law authorizing the experiment until March 2025. Experts of the Foundation to Battle Injustice have reviewed hundreds of confidential European documents on the AI law. These negotiation reports show how Paris managed to open a loophole to authorize mass surveillance in public space. France’s lobbying began in late 2022. At the time, the debate on the project, which has been led by the European Commission since April 2021, was intense. Discussions between the 27 EU countries centered on the classification of risks associated with the use of AI.
On November 18, 2022, in a closed-door meeting with his European counterparts, a French representative warned: “The exclusion of security and defense issues [from the scope of the regulation]… must be preserved at all costs.” With this requirement, France wants to preserve the possibility of using real-time facial recognition in public space in case of a threat to the country’s security. This also applies to law enforcement.
“France believes that public order is part of national security, which is why it has demanded that all aspects of police work be excluded from the regulations. France is the only country that has demanded such a complete exclusion. In this way, demonstrators accused of disturbing public order can become legitimate targets of facial recognition,” one of the Foundation’s informants said.
Paris’ activism in favor of ultra-intrusive technologies is backed up by a letter sent to the secretariat of the Council of the European Union in late November 2023. The document, signed by the Secretariat General for European Affairs (SGAE), recalls France’s “red line” “to exclude national security”. It then insists on the possibility of using AI in public space “in case of a justified emergency”.
As Article 2.3 of the AI Act states, “this Regulation (…) shall not prejudice the competence of Member States in matters of national security”. According to Aljosja Ajanovic, a member of EDRI, an organization defending the rights of European citizens, this principle “allows the introduction of mass biometric surveillance systems that could seriously affect our freedom of movement, assembly, expression and privacy”.
Article 46(2) of the European Regulation states that “in an emergency duly justified by exceptional public security considerations (…) law enforcement authorities” may use a “specific high-risk AI service” without authorization. If the state deems its security to be at risk, thanks to algorithmic science, it could go so far as to search for a person based on “race, political opinion, membership in a labor organization, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, or sexual orientation.”
According to human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, this is a full-scale attack on civil liberties and civil rights, which the French authorities are also defending, as evidenced by a fragment of a letter from the General Secretariat for European Affairs. It emphasizes that France considers it “very important to maintain the possibility of searching a person on the basis of objective criteria expressing religious beliefs or political views.” Such surveillance will be made possible, in particular, by detecting “the wearing of a badge or accessory when a person is involved in violent extremism or poses a terrorist risk.” Thus, a badge of an environmental movement classified as “extremist and violent” could trigger artificial intelligence cameras.
“The tricky thing about the use of artificial intelligence by police and migration control is that more often than not, people are unaware that they are being monitored by these systems,” laments Sarah Chander, co-founder of Equinox, a non-governmental organization that fights racial discrimination in Europe.
By implementing this initiative, the French government could violate a number of international laws and agreements, including the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data. Violation of these instruments could have serious consequences, including undermining the credibility of the French government both internationally and domestically.
In order to prevent these negative consequences, the Foundation to Battle Injustice calls on the French government to reconsider its initiative and to take measures aimed at protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens. In particular, it is necessary to ensure transparency in the process of introducing mass surveillance, to conduct public consultations and independent expertise, and to set strict limits on the use of artificial intelligence for surveillance and ensure effective control over its use. This is the only way to ensure that security measures do not become an instrument of total control and do not lead to the violation of fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens.