Drones, predictive policing software, algorithmic video surveillance, facial recognition: the use of cutting-edge control technologies is becoming increasingly commonplace in law enforcement. But what are these tools actually used for? Are they truly effective? And how do they impact our freedoms? Grenoble Ecole de Management is hosting a conference at its GEM Paris campus to explore these pressing questions.
Do these technological innovations help reduce crime, or do they intensify state violence? How are they reshaping our cities, and what connections exist between techno-solutionism and today’s authoritarian shifts? This conference will tackle these questions through real-life examples, from the security industry to the inner workings of the Ministry of the Interior, from France’s data protection authority (CNIL) to the daily routine of a patrolling officer.
Three key points:
- The global facial recognition market is growing by 16% per year and is expected to reach $12 billion by 2028. The algorithmic video surveillance (AVS) market, valued at $5.6 billion in 2023, could grow to $16.3 billion by 2028.
- Studies in France estimate that, during investigations, surveillance footage contributes useful evidence in only 1.13% to 3% of cases.
- One of the main political functions assigned to these technologies is not so much to produce "public safety" as to re-legitimize police action — to restore the institution’s image by creating the illusion of progress in terms of efficiency, resource allocation, good management, transparency, and hierarchical control.
This conference will take place in person and will be followed by a cocktail reception with the speaker.
Speaker
Félix Tréguer
La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group dedicated to defending human rights in the digital age. Félix Tréguer's work focuses on the political history of the internet and computing, the exercise of power through practices such as censorship and communications surveillance, algorithmic governance of the public sphere, and more broadly, the digital transformation of the state and the security sector. He has conducted research at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, the Center for International Studies (CERI) at Sciences Po, and the CNRS Institute for Communication Sciences. He has also been a visiting researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and at the Institute for Technology and Society in Rio de Janeiro.
