The French government has introduced new legislation that would broaden the use of electronic monitoring to manage security during the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.
With less than two years to go, the French government is finalising the legislative framework around the organisation of the Paris Olympics, introducing a bill to ministers Thursday to address security, among other things.
According to the AFP news agency, which received a copy of the proposed legislation, the bill would allow for the use of artificial intelligence to monitor crowds, particularly during the opening ceremony, but also around stadiums, on city streets and in public transport.
The legislation would also allow for the use of body scanners at the entrances to facilities with a capacity of more than 300 people, which would reduce the amount of security personnel needed for physical pat-downs in a period where recruiting staff is difficult.
The bill would also give authority to Paris police prefect, Laurent Nunez, over all Ile-de-France departments from 1 July to 15 September 2024.
The Olympics are set to run from 26 July to 11 August, and the Paralympics from 28 August to 8 September.
Beyond security, the bill would permit cities hosting competitions to allow businesses to open on Sundays from 1 June to 30 September 2024.
Scanning crowds
The government’s Olympics envoy, Michel Cadot, has been lobbying for the use of AI technology during the Olympics since May, after the chaos at the Champions League football final at the Stade de France, where police fired teargas to fans trying to force their way into the stadium.
The use of the technology would be experimental, and would be authorised by decree only after a review by France's privacy watchdog, the CNIL.
The proposed text suggests that the technology would use no biometric data or facial recognition, nor would it be able to automatically cross reference with other databases to identify personal information.
