The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has been ordered to deactivate a video surveillance system used around schools. This follows a letter from the Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertรฉs (CNIL), highlighting legal issues. The mayor announces an appeal to the Council of State.
For several years, the city of Nice has been using a prolonged parking detection algorithm via cameras in front of schools. This system, conceived as part of the Vigipirate plan, aims to signal any vehicle parked for more than five minutes in sensitive areas. It does not capture people or their behavior, but only vehicles in prolonged stop.
On May 20, the CNIL sent a letter to the mayor of Nice. It explicitly requests that this system be deactivated. The commission considers that it does not comply with the current legal framework, particularly because it analyzes a portion of public road without a specific legislative basis. The CNIL believes that this practice goes beyond authorized scope without legislative intervention.
“I am an angry mayor and father,” reacted Christian Estrosi on May 28 from the Urban Supervision Center. He immediately ordered the municipal police to suspend the algorithm.
Towards a legal standoff
In his intervention, Christian Estrosi criticizes a decision based on “an outdated law from 1978.” He accuses the CNIL of endangering the safety of Nice’s children. He announces his intention to refer the matter to the Council of State and calls for swift legislative reform: “I solemnly request the government and Parliament to quickly address this issue so that the regulatory framework can be modified without delay, allowing us to reconnect this system by the start of the next school year.”
For its part, the CNIL reminds that only legislative intervention could authorize such surveillance in public space. In the meantime, the municipality of Nice will have to comply with the deactivation request.
The debate between data protection and security continues, with the start of the school year in sight.
