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posted by hubie on Monday June 20 2022, @01:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-spy-with-my-little-camera dept.

Marseille's battle against the surveillance state

Across the world, video cameras have become an accepted feature of urban life. Many cities in China now have dense networks of them. London and New Delhi aren't far behind.

Now France is playing catch-up. Since 2015, the year of the Bataclan terrorist attacks, the number of cameras in Paris has increased fourfold. The police have used such cameras to enforce pandemic lockdown measures and monitor protests like those of the Gilets Jaunes. And a new nationwide security law, adopted last year, allows for video surveillance by police drones during events like protests and marches.

[...] Concerns have been raised throughout the country. But the surveillance rollout has met special resistance in Marseille, France's second-biggest city. The boisterous, rebellious Mediterranean town sits on some of the fault lines that run through modern France. Known for hip bars, artist studios, and startup hubs, it is also notorious for drugs, poverty, and criminal activity. It has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in Europe but is stranded in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, a region that leans far right. The city pushes back. Its attitude could be summed up by graffiti you might pass as you drive in on the A7 motorway: "La vie est (re)belle."

Big brother is watching you. The cameras are there for your protection. To prevent crime. But apparently they are only used in about 1-2% of investigations according to reviews. So what is the other 98-99% for? Security theater? Politicians being hard on crime, or having a hard on for crime. Panopticon for the masses that are not involved in crime? It's very hard to measure the effect of prevention in that regard.

But I guess people are starting to get a tad tired of being watched all the time like we are there for the entertainment of some big brother peeping Tom.


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  • (Score: 2) by bart on Tuesday June 21 2022, @03:50PM

    by bart (2844) on Tuesday June 21 2022, @03:50PM (#1254931)

    Your car will be broken into within a few minutes, right next to armed guards with Rottweilers. The Algerian scum that is inhabiting most of this city hates non-Arabs, and will throw rocks (or eggs if you're lucky) at your car when you're just passing through their neighborhood. The policy will only go into these neighborhoods in full riot outfit, in large groups.

    Les Calanques used to be a rockclimbing mecca, but the only safe place to park you van is in nearby Cassis, where the right-wing Front National mayor has probably given the policy carte-blanche to beat Arabs out of the town.

    The reason this area is voting right-wing is because of the invasion by Algerians, that's it.

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