Paris Olympics 2024: A New Era of AI and Biometric Surveillance

by Didi Rankovich | Reclaim The Net

There is – and not just the obvious, either – a link between the previous Tokyo Olympics, and the event now coming up, to be held in Paris.

In 2020, the Tokyo Games were postponed because of the pandemic.

The pandemic, justifiably or not, with measures adopted by various governments and organizations around the world, threw people’s lives for a loop, and the Olympics were no exception.

Yet one of the most “teachable moments” that has thus far emerged from the Covid era is that the situation was often used as a very convenient excuse to introduce a plethora of new mass surveillance policies and technologies.

Those based on AI and biometric data feature most prominently. For large sporting and other venues and events, these had been waiting in the wings for a while, but the pandemic truly gave them a “booster dose” as far as public policy, and even opinion, is concerned.

And now, with the looming Paris Games, we’re seeing the seeds sown during the pandemic continuing to grow, and slowly overtake the figurative ground.

Reports are now saying that the Paris Olympics organizers have completed the second AI surveillance test of large crowds. The very fact these are tests tells us the measures are new – but why they are deemed necessary right now is not made very clear. Read Full Article >