La France insoumise takes legal action against the use of Briefcam software by the police

The deputies of La France insoumise (LFI) in the National Assembly announced that they had taken legal action to denounce the use of Briefcam facial recognition software by the French police. They consider this use to be a “blatant and obvious violation of the Data Protection Act”.

During a press point, Aurélien Saintoul, LFI deputy, declared that he had reported to the prosecutor all the Ministers of the Interior concerned by the purchase and use of Briefcam. Ministers mentioned include Bernard Cazeneuve, Bruno Le Roux, Matthias Fekl, Christophe Castaner and Gérald Darmanin.

Saintoul explained that facial recognition software has been integrated into internal security forces since 2015. The use of the software was therefore carried out under the successive authority of these ministers.

The MP then added: “We ask that justice now look into this case of flagrant and obvious violation of the Data Protection Act.” Aurélien Saintoul had already taken legal action on behalf of LFI to the National Assembly.

An inspection report, commissioned in response to the revelations on the Disclose site, confirms that the use of Briefcam by the police was “outside the legal framework”. The software was reportedly deactivated after these revelations.

Disclose had in fact revealed in November 2023 that Briefcam had been acquired and used illegally and secretly by French law enforcement since 2015, without authorization from the CNIL.

In France, facial recognition is only authorized in the context of specific investigations, as specified in a parliamentary report from April 2023. Briefcam technology, developed by an Israeli company, is used worldwide, notably in Israel, in the United States, Brazil, Taiwan and Singapore, according to the media Disclose.