The Association La Quadrature du Net denounces the absence of “proportionality” in cameras installations, as well as the uses of two gigantic photo files.
Le Monde With AFP
The Ministry of the Interior is in the viewfinder of the Quadrature of the Net. The association announced, Sunday, September 25, having filed three collective complaints against Place Beauvau to denounce the use of facial recognition, filing and video surveillance. They were deposited before the National Commission for Data Protection (CNIL) after the association collected the mandate of nearly 13,000 people by a signature campaign on the site complaint.technopolice.fr .
The quatrance of the net, who presents himself as a defender of fundamental freedoms in the digital environment, was inspired by the collective complaints which she had filed in 2018 against the GAFAM by relying on the General Protection Regulation data (GDPR). These procedures had led to heavy fines for Google and Amazon, respectively of 50 million and 746 million euros.
“failure to the obligation of safety”
This time, the association for the defense of digital freedoms wants to tackle what it calls the “four pillars” of a “mass surveillance system”: “video surveillance”, “automated detection of behavior” .
In the complaint concerning video surveillance, the association endeavors to highlight “the influence of the Ministry of the Interior on the installation of surveillance cameras (authorizations, subsidies)”, then to demonstrate “in What these devices are illegal because their proportionality is never justified, “said Lavain Levain, lawyer at the Quadrature of the Net. The objective is to obtain the withdrawal of all the cameras deployed in public space.
The second complaint concerns TAJ files (automated treatment for judicial history), which include “eight million” faces photos. The third relates to the TES files (secure electronic titles) which include photos of any applicant of identity card or passport.
With regard to the TAJ, the association denounces the illegality of the data collected, because “a large number of information is not related to legal proceedings, not updated”. It also notes that the police and gendarmes use it in “outside any legal proceedings, especially during identity checks”. Regarding the TES, the complaint denounces in particular “the breach of the minister’s security obligation by the choices of a centralized architecture, despite the risks of diversion,” said the lawyer. It is for the association to obtain the withdrawal of the photos.