Gérald Darmanen announced on Monday that he had requested an administrative inquiry into the Home Office’s use of facial recognition software for video surveillance after the investigative website Disclose wrote that police officers allegedly used the company’s software to analyze CCTV images BriefCam since 2015. , writes AFP.

“We use BriefCam like other programs, but under the guidance of a judge,” he told France 5. “But,” he added, “no, as far as I know, we don’t use facial recognition.”

Gérald Darmanen announced that he “requested an administrative investigation within three months”, so, according to him, “there is no doubt”.

The CNIL, France’s independent privacy watchdog, announced last Wednesday that it had launched a “control procedure” against the Interior Ministry following the publication of the Disclose investigation.

Disclose wrote that until May, the national police had the right to use VSA only in very rare cases. With the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games approaching, the government managed to pass legislation in parliament that would allow a large-scale investigation by the national police until March 31, 2025.

However, according to Home Office documents obtained by Disclose, law enforcement officers have been illegally using Briefcam systems since 2015.