AI Surveillance at Paris Olympics Raises Privacy Concerns and Sets Troubling Precedent

The 2024 Paris Olympics will see widespread use of AI-powered surveillance, raising concerns about privacy and the normalization of mass surveillance in France.

Key Takeaways: The French government has authorized extensive use of AI surveillance systems for the Paris Olympics, in collaboration with private tech companies:

• AI software will be used to monitor security camera feeds, flagging events like crowd surges, abandoned objects, weapons, fires, and certain traffic violations in real-time.
• The government has also expanded traditional surveillance powers, including wiretapping and collecting geolocation, communications, and visual/audio data.

Controversial Legal Changes: To enable this level of AI surveillance, France had to enact new laws that critics argue violate EU data protection regulations:

• Law No. 2023-380, particularly Articles 7 and 10, legalize the use of AI-powered video surveillance before, during, and after the Olympics.
• Scholars and civil rights groups contend that these laws are contrary to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, especially provisions protecting biometric data.

Balancing Security and Privacy: While increased security measures are expected for major events like the Olympics, many are concerned that the extent of France’s AI surveillance is disproportionate and invasive:

• Critics claim France is using the Olympics as justification for a surveillance power grab that could normalize far-reaching state surveillance.
• There are questions about the AI systems’ training data, error rates, potential biases, and how collected data might be used or accessed after the Olympics.

Broader Implications: The Paris Olympics is serving as a large-scale testing ground for AI surveillance, with potential ramifications beyond the event itself:

• The French government and partnering tech companies view the AI surveillance experiments so far as successful, paving the way for expanded future use.
• However, these AI surveillance systems are poorly regulated, lacking independent testing and transparency around their capabilities and data practices.
• Once the extensive data is collected, it opens up significant potential for further analysis and privacy invasions if not properly controlled and restricted.