A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #341 - Big Brother 341: Return of the QR code, -- EUR75, 000 for a firecracker, -- and other chronicles -- of control and repression (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The return of QR code control for the Paris 2024 Olympics ---- 
Algorithmic video surveillance, body scanners and now QR codes: 
surveillance technologies will be omnipresent to secure the Paris 2024 
Olympic and Paralympic Games. Widely used during the health crisis, the 
QR code appears as a small image composed of black squares on a 
background white which can be scanned to access certain information. The 
announcement of his return was made by Darmanin at the beginning of 
April, during the unveiling of the security plan planned for the opening 
ceremony of the Olympic Games in July 2024.
The presentation of a QR code will be necessary to enter certain areas 
for the duration of the Paris 2024 Games: around the places of 
ceremonies, events or where athletes and staff live. The aim is to 
filter entries into these areas which are particularly sensitive to the 
risk of attacks but it leads to restricting the freedom of movement of 
all individuals (worker, tourist, local resident, etc.).
This QR code is an unprecedented form of control for a sporting event. 
To function correctly, these tools require the implementation of 
databases. A QR code is, in reality, nothing more than a bar code which, 
by scanning it, allows you to refer to a reference in a database to 
check its veracity. A QR code can therefore be considered as the tree 
that hides the forest. And this forest is that of personal data and the 
multiplication of files.
It will indeed be necessary to identify a lot of information to 
implement this system during the Paris 2024 Games alone, if only in 
relation to the identity of each of the citizens who will be forced to 
use it. A registration platform should be online on May 10. It will 
generate the QR codes. These benefit from a certain ease of use, 
provided you have a smartphone (if you don't, you will need to print the 
QR code and be careful not to lose it). This ease of use can make us 
forget the major challenge of data collection - the outcome of which we 
are never sure of. This risk is all the greater as we do not yet know 
precisely the legal regime for data processing implemented in this 
context, the retention period of the information or the precise data 
that will be collected.
The choice of QR codes is not trivial. On the contrary, it is part of 
the dynamic of techno-solutionism which makes the use of technological 
tools a principle and a solution to any human problem, without thinking 
about the consequences of this systematic use. It also contributes to 
the habituation of citizens to these tools in a context where everyone 
is already subject to direct and indirect pressure from large digital 
companies.
This technology contributes to the advent of a surveillance society to 
which individuals are gradually becoming accustomed.
Source: Theconversation.com

The arrested protester's guide!
Are we controlling you? Are we arresting you? Have you been accused of 
an infraction? Will we judge you in immediate appearance? Are we 
ignoring you? This short guide published by the Magistracy Union 
explains your rights and the legal progress of the procedures. It also 
offers you practical advice on how to best react to each situation.
In recent years, the right to demonstrate has suffered numerous attacks. 
By displaying the objective of fighting terrorism or guaranteeing the 
safety of people, so-called security laws restrict the freedoms of citizens.
While at each demonstration arbitrary arrests and detentions are 
denounced, this guide outlines the range of situations with which 
demonstrators may be confronted and recalls the rights and duties of 
citizens (and public authorities) in order to guarantee everyone the 
right to demonstrate, one of the major expressions of democracy.
Everything you need to know in the event of a stop or arrest: a 
practical, educational and accessible book. A new, updated edition of 
recent legislation. Content also accessible for free online (the 
previous update was downloaded nearly 15,000 times)
Source: syndicat-magistrature.fr

Surveillance of intelligence services in France
More than 20,000 people in France are currently the subject of 
surveillance by the intelligence services. The techniques are 
increasingly sophisticated and do not only target terrorism or serious 
crime.

These surveillance methods are not new, but their use has increased, 
particularly since the Intelligence law of 2015. The reports of the 
National Commission for the Control of Intelligence Techniques (CNCTR), 
published every year since 2016, report on this increase.
The number of people geolocated in real time by the intelligence 
services has increased tenfold in seven years, going from 1,140 cases in 
2015 to 10,901 in 2022. The capture of words and images in a private 
place (from the installation of microphones or cameras in a home to the 
capture of the sound environment via a spied on smartphone, for example) 
experienced an increase of 36% between 2016 and 2022, going from 2427 to 
3314 cases. "There were just under 23,000 people monitored" in 2021, we 
learn in the latest CNCTR report. And just under 21,000 in 2022.
Since 1991, the number of telephone lines that can be listened to 
simultaneously has tripled, from 1180 then to 3800 today. Defenders of 
these surveillance methods often justify themselves by appealing to 
consensual causes, such as the fight against terrorism, organized crime, 
or even child crime.
"This surveillance begins with the activity of the intelligence 
services. Identity checks that put you in the sights of the services, 
cameras and microphones hidden around militant places or in bookstores, 
GPS beacons, interceptions, analysis of metadata, etc. Everything is 
good to serve political priorities and justify the sustainability of 
credits . The share of intelligence activity devoted to the surveillance 
of activists - made a priority since the 2019 national intelligence 
strategy - has doubled under Macron, going from at least 6% of total 
surveillance measures in 2017 to more by 12% in 2022.
After the administrative file, after the intelligence notes, comes the 
stage of legal investigations. Here again, as the Lafarge affair 
illustrates, surveillance involves the use of video surveillance - more 
than 100,000 cameras on public roads today - and then systematic 
biometric identification, notably via facial recognition. and the TAJ 
file, or when this is not possible by the identity card and passport 
file, the infamous TES file, which is thus misused.
As a reminder, the use of facial recognition via the TAJ file is not 
science fiction. This is not the exception either. It is now used at 
least 1,600 times a day by the police, even though this dystopian method 
of identification has never been authorized by law and, in fact, its use 
is not controlled by the authorities. judicial authority.
This facial recognition is used even for trivial offenses, notably when 
it comes to weaponizing the repression of political opponents as 
illustrated by last week's judgments in Niort, a year after 
Sainte-Soline. . And this while European law normally imposes a 
criterion of "absolute necessity".
Surveillance finally results from the intersection of all the digital 
traces left throughout our lives and our social activities. In this case 
and others, we are seeing an increase in requisitions on social networks 
like Twitter or Facebook, spying on telephone conversations and SMS 
messages, monitoring of correspondence and movements of entire groups of 
people via their metadata, monitoring their publications and readings, 
requisitioning their banking histories or files held by social services, 
etc. All, often on the sole basis of vague suspicions. And the result is 
a systematic violation of their privacy then thrown to the police, who 
do not hesitate to use it to intimidate or attempt to humiliate during 
interrogations, and to construct a biased vision of reality that can 
corroborate their fantasies.» Extract from the text read by a member of 
Quadrature du Net on April 5, 2024 during the gathering in front of the 
Aix-en-Provence court, on the occasion of the 2 new indictments in the 
Lafarge affair
Source: Basta! (article by Camille Stineau) and laquadrature.net

More than 75,000 euros for a firecracker thrown at police officers!
In 2016, the protest against the new labor law, the El Khomri law, is 
very strong throughout France. The demonstrations are increasing. On 
Thursday June 2, 2016, Maxime, entertainment worker and community 
activist, took part in a new day of mobilization in Toulouse against 
this new Labor law from the Valls government.
At the end of the parade, responsible for clearing the public highway, 
police officers were injured by firecrackers and agricultural "bombs" 
thrown by demonstrators at the back of the procession.

Maxime is named by one of the police officers as one of the 
troublemakers. He was arrested shortly after but denied having thrown 
firecrackers.
Tried at the criminal court in October 2016, he was sentenced to three 
months in prison for "violence with a weapon against an agent holding 
public authority leading to ITTs lasting more than eight days". Even 
though he maintains his innocence, this demonstrator is not appealing. 
The legal story has only just begun.
Indeed, very quickly, several police officers complained of suffering 
from "significant hearing problems", tinnitus more precisely, linked to 
the throwing of these firecrackers.
These law enforcement officers then ask to send their file to the civil 
interests chamber of the court to have their damage recognized and to 
set an amount of damages. But civil procedures are long, months go by, 
without worrying anyone. But two of the ten civil party police officers 
declare that they have been suffering from permanent tinnitus since that 
famous June 2, 2016. They are having medical assessments carried out.
The state judicial agent, representing the Ministry of the Interior, 
asks the courts to assess "future health expenses" for hearing aids and 
reimbursement of sick leave benefits for these injured police officers.
On December 8, 2020, the judgment of the Toulouse Criminal Court fell. 
Maxime is ordered to pay 81,950 euros in damages. The protester is in 
shock and appeals.
But eight years after the events, justice has just confirmed this 
judgment. On March 18, 2024, the Toulouse Court of Appeal has just 
sentenced Maxime.
He will ultimately have to pay 76,430 euros in damages to these law 
enforcement agents. An incredible sum for a firecracker throw that he 
always denies having thrown!
Source: francetvinfo.fr

Gennevilliers: mothers block school principals' offices and end up at 
the police station
For them, it was one action among many others for their school to 
reintegrate the priority education network (REP). Mobilized since 
February, after rallies, "dead school" days or even referral to the 
Minister of National Education, mothers from Gennevilliers (Hauts de 
Seine, 92) blocked the offices of the directors of the Henri school 
group -Wallon for about an hour last Thursday. Their goal? Obtain an 
interview with the district inspector. Instead, their action this 
morning earned them an interview at the police station and a reminder of 
the law.
The inspector, traveling to another school that day, asked the 
principals to call the police if the mothers did not leave the premises. 
Of the fortnight, half left before the officials arrived. Seven others 
remained, "calmly and without aggression", according to several 
testimonies. The police then asked them to follow them to the police 
station.
"We were interviewed one by one, we were intimidated, telling us that we 
risked police custody and a fine of 680 euros if we did it again," 
denounces Sofia, the president of the parents' representatives. "We have 
been waiting since 2015 for the school to be reintegrated into REP.»
The Henri-Wallon school group is located in the popular Agnettes 
district but it depends on the Pasteur college, on the more advantaged 
side, which left the priority education network nine years ago. The IPS 
(social position index) of this school group is however similar to that 
of schools classified REP + in the municipality. It also has the lowest 
student language scores in the city.
Source: leparisien.fr

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4204
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