Facial recognition software tested during Carnival in Nice

Feb 24, 2019 | Stephen Mayhew

Facial recognition software was piloted for two days during Carnival in Nice, France, The Connexion reports. The city had received permission from France’s digital privacy regulator, the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) to deploy the biometric technology.

The software tests were run on February 19 and 20 using six cameras in one designated section of the Carnival area. 1,000 volunteers took part in the test to replicate searches for missing people or persons of interest to the authorities, to see if the software recognizes them from the CCTV images.

The results of the pilot project are to be submitted to CNIL within two months.

Faces of those who did not volunteer to be part of the pilot will be blurred on any photographs used in the final report.

Earlier this month a proposed French law was being debated that would make it illegal for protesters to cover their faces so that they can be identified with facial recognition.

Rio de Janeiro will be deploying a facial recognition system for public cameras to test at Copacabana during Carnival in March.