Olympic Games: France gold medal for the regression of individual freedoms?

From July 13 to 26, you will need a QR code to circulate in the secure zone relating to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. To this end, the regulation of “files of residents of security zones” has just been modified by an order from the Ministry of the Interior on May 3. And this should worry us, warns Me Pierre-Eugène Burghardt.

Paris, May 13, 2024, 8 p.m.: in a few seconds, the shrill alarm of the telephones broke the silence. A Monday evening in theaters, cinemas or restaurants. Worried, Parisians living near the Seine were able to discover a headline “Extremely serious alert” followed by a more surprising promotional message for the security measures put in place for the Olympic Games.

Just reading the title brought back, for a moment, the painful memory of the events of November 13, 2015. Far from mea culpa on this intrusion into the private lives of thousands of Parisians, the Ministry of the Interior and the Police Prefecture assume with a certain haughtiness “in exceptional events, exceptional measures”. Move around, there is nothing to see.

If the certainties of these senior officials about the merits of their misuse of the alert systems leave one wondering, this also denotes a paradigm shift which deserves to be noted and which should cause concern. At a time when any event is by nature exceptional, the State justifies and legitimizes interference in the private sphere, without any prior control or serious reason, by means of new technologies such as geolocation and smartphones.

A continued regression of individual freedoms

More broadly, this intrusion into our private lives, this May 13, 2024, is only the most visible symptom of a continuous and uninterrupted regression of individual freedoms. The Olympic Games are, in this regard, a test phase for designing this society of tomorrow comparable to Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon: intelligent cameras, QR codes, tracking and justification of movements since, for the authorities responsible for public security, any action of the citizen, any statement, any movement is by nature suspicious.

In this perspective, the Ministry of the Interior issued, with virtual indifference, a single decree on May 3, 2024 recasting the decree of May 2, 2011 relating to the automated processing of personal data called “resident files security zones” created during a major event.

This grants the Director General of the National Police, the Director General of the National Gendarmerie and the Prefect of Police of Paris, exorbitant powers under common law, namely the authorization to implement data processing of these files ( art. 1). These registers thus generated then allow the development and obtaining of the useful pass to access the preliminary areas defined by the authorities.

To travel along the banks of the Seine from the right bank to the left bank, from July 13 to 26, all citizens will therefore be required to register on the processing platform by providing not only their first and last name, but also in particular photograph, proof of address and reasons for such travel.

Data kept within “a period of three from the end of the event”

Wanting to cross the Seine during this period therefore requires compliance with these provisions and possibly exposes you to an administrative investigation.

The surprise lies in its article 3 since it provides that the data thus provided will be kept for “ a period of 3 months from the end of the event » i.e. in this case until December 3, 2024 – three months after the end of the Paralympics.

How can we understand this extensive conservation of such a sensitive file? Two major concerns arise.

It is first of all undeniable that the process is seriously detrimental to the freedom to come and go and to private life. The police authorities will have the reasons for the travel of several tens of thousands of people for a period that is completely excessive and deviates from common law. Having to provide proof of a medical appointment or with a lawyer violates medical confidentiality and lawyer confidentiality, the cornerstone of our democracy. It cannot be excluded, concerning lawyers, that certain clients are refused the pass – for firms located in sensitive areas – because of their criminal record.

The use of photographs raises particular concern

The extensive conservation of photographs then arouses deep concern among compliance stakeholders, first and foremost the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties. In her opinion of April 25, 2024, she expressed her concerns about the draft decree: “ the CNIL underlines that the processing of the photograph, which will allow greater speed of control at the entrance to the zone, only appears necessary when, as for the Olympic Games, a large number of people are expected simultaneously in the zone . She invites the ministry to clarify the decree on this point by limiting the collection of photographs to these cases only. » (Deliberation No. 2024-034 of April 25, 2024).

However, reading the aforementioned decree of May 3, 2024 reveals legal vagueness in its wording regarding the use of this data. If this text provides in its article 4 the conditions of access and the recipients of this data, how can we understand that no provision relates to the use of this personal data? This is worrying when we know the implementation of algorithmic video surveillance made possible by law during the Olympic Games, and this in a unique way in Europe. Do we believe that the photos of several tens of thousands of citizens will be used for other uses such as training this video surveillance system used in these areas? The question needs to be asked.

The legal levity in the supervision of these security measures which must intervene throughout the Olympic Games constitutes a major concern and a dangerous precedent in a society which lives to the rhythm of sporting and extra-sporting events. The extension of these measures to the entire French territory as far as New Caledonia, which does not host any event of this competition, also tends to support the hypothesis of perpetuation (art. 8-1) .

Faced with the potential for such abuses, Parliament, which has decided on a senatorial fact-finding mission on the application of the law of May 19, 2023 relating to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will necessarily have to carry out a posteriori rigorous evaluation of these measures have already been diverted, like the alert system which has since been muted. Otherwise, the end of the Olympic Games, in the run-up to the presidential election, risks being bitter and could well sound the death knell for individual freedoms.