Marseille’s battle against the surveillance state

She is GABRIELLE VOINOT.

Personal resonance is one of the things that comes to mind when you think of increased surveillement. Albania had different political regimes in the 1990s and her father was against one of them. She says that it was a difficult time for them because they were being watched. The authorities were suspected of installing bugs in the walls of her home. Freedoms are fragile in France. France has been living in a state of emergency for the past five years. More and more constraints are put on our liberty.

There are concerns raised in the country. In the second-biggest city in France, there has been resistance to the spy program. Some of the fault lines that run through France are located in the Mediterranean town. Hip bars, artist studios, and startup hubs are what it is known for, but it is also known for drugs, poverty, and criminal activity. It has one of the most diverse populations in Europe but is stuck in Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur, a region that is far right. The city makes a move. It's attitude could be summed up by the graffiti on the A7 motorway.

It's a curious place for a testing ground for technology. 500 more security cameras were to be given to the city council by the president when he was in the city. The area of the city where they would be placed has become synonymous with violence and gang activity due to the large number of immigrants. He said that they couldn't make a success out of France if they can't succeed in Marseille.

There has been an increase in the use of cameras in public places.

The activists are highlighting the under performance of the existing system. Their message makes sense. In 2020, the city elected a new administration that had pledged to stop using video cameras. Have the residents succeeded or are they fighting the tide?

The digital rights advocacy group La Quadrature du Net launched a campaign and activist network called Techno police in 2019. The campaign was started by Félix Tréguer, an associate researcher at the center for internet and society. There was a press release from the council.