He preaches for his parish. The mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, a great follower of video surveillance, advocated this Tuesday the use of facial recognition during large-scale sporting events in France, in reaction to the chaos around the Stade de France on Saturday.
In France, the use of real-time facial recognition on public roads cannot go beyond a simple test. A legal vacuum which Mr. Estrosi therefore wants to remedy by a “constitutional reform”, seizing the opportunity on the fly, while the incidents on the sidelines of the Champions League are not only related to delinquency.
“I would like us to finally put a stop to what the Cnil (National Commission for Computing and Freedoms, editor’s note) prohibits us, this kind of dusty institution which prohibits the use of facial recognition”, said the city councilor on Europe 1.
“It is difficult for the police forces to arrest 1,000 or 2,000 people, at the risk of injuring or even killing 1,000 or 2,000 people. But on the other hand, if they are identified by facial recognition, if they are banned from the stadium and if we can pick them up in the early morning at home to put them in custody, artificial intelligence will fully play its role. “, he developed.
The Champions League final match started in Saint-Denis with a delay of more than 30 minutes due to scenes of chaos outside the stadium, between an influx of supporters and attempted intrusions.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, many English people tried to return with counterfeit tickets, without it being known whether these supporters knew. Also in question: the RER strike, which deeply disturbed the orientation of spectators. Taking advantage of the chaos, some people climbed the gates and broke in without permission.
An inconclusive test in Nice
In Nice, Christian Estrosi has already carried out experiments on facial recognition during the 135th edition of the carnival in 2019 in order to identify children lost in the crowd or wanted people. A test that the CNIL had not deemed satisfactory, pointing to shortcomings in the report of the municipality.
In February 2021, the Cnil had sent a warning to FC Metz which planned to use a facial recognition system to automatically identify people banned from the stadium. However, as the Cnil reminds us, “the collection and use of this sensitive data is prohibited by the general data protection regulations (RGPD) and the Data Protection Act”.
Close to Emmanuel Macron, Christian Estrosi also considered that the organizational problems which arose this Saturday were essentially linked to “only sports bodies” and reaffirmed that the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, widely criticized by the oppositions of the right and left, was “up to the stakes”.