Datakalab - Covid-19 Mask wearing detection In some French cities

France has authorised the use of surveillance cameras to monitor whether passengers on public transport are abiding by the requirement to wear masks. However, France’s data protection watchdog CNIL called out the practice, saying it was not governed by any legal framework and was therefore illegal. It’s part of the city’s efforts to end lockdown and help prevent the spread of Covid-19, but it’s raised concerns from the government’s privacy watchdog. The authority began a three-month test of its software from French tech company Datakalab this week at the Chatelet-Les-Halles station in the heart of Paris, normally used by about 33 million passengers per year. Monitors will have access to a dashboard with the proportion of riders believed to be wearing masks. France planned to make mask wearing mandatory in public transportation from May 11 2019 as it planned to ease lockdown measures. The AI was regarded to be able to supplement enforcement agents in stations. Still, CNIL, the government body in charge of privacy, raised concerns that this type of technology carries a risk that the identity of the people being analyzed could be reconstructed. The measures would also qualify under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation because the cameras will be collecting people’s personal data. The project has been terminated earlier due to ethical concerns and the impossiblity to oppose the results of the system. https://www.bfmtv.com/tech/trop-intrusives-les-cameras-de-detection-de-masques-desactivees-a-paris-et-a-cannes_AN-202006220163.html