© Reuters/Charles Platiau
Security cameras are seen across the street from France's Interior Ministry in Paris.
Security cameras are seen across the street from France's Interior Ministry in Paris.
A new decree has given public transport operators the power to use "intelligent video to measure the rate of mask-wearing on transport." France's data protection watchdog, CNIL, said the "smart" cameras will be used on buses, subways and trains to "observe" whether Covid-19 rules mandating facial coverings are being obeyed. However, the government claims that the cameras will only tabulate how many people are wearing masks, without identifying individuals.
Notably, a similar initiative was proposed back in December, but the government shelved the idea after CNIL said it risked "undermining the proper functioning of our democratic society" and that there was no clear legal framework under which it could be justified. The agency said that it decided to approve the surveillance program the second time around because the government had clearly stated its purpose and that the cameras will not "process biometric data" and therefore do not "constitute a facial recognition device."
Comment: Western culture seems determined to cause unnecessary suffering and drama at the expense of getting through everyday challenges. We've been conditioned to latch onto every minor difficulty as a threat to our identity, which has been molded to signify our existence. It's a warped worldview that eventually brings the actual decline of social connection and health out of largely minor but exacerbated issues.