The 10 craziest surveillance technologies being rolled out for the Paris Olympics

As the 2024 Paris Olympic Games begin today, hundreds of American Olympians will begin their quest for gold. For many, thousands of their practice hours will pay off.

But for this year’s Olympics, it's not just the athletes’ hard work and athletic prowess taking center stage. Over the past year, France has worked hard to prepare a massive surveillance state for the Olympics. From surveillance drones to the largest military camp in Paris since the Second World War, the French have built a vast network of technology to keep the Olympics “safe” and dystopian.

During the Olympic games, Parisians and visitors must show QR codes to police officers to get past barricades to enter restricted areas, reminiscent of the nanny-state COVID zones.

Here are the ten craziest examples of mass surveillance during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

1. Artificial intelligence cameras

Tourists won’t be the only ones taking pictures of themselves in Paris. CCTV cameras will use AI-powered algorithms to record and identify potentially suspicious individuals and objects on streets and in large crowds. While French officials claim that there will be no facial recognition, “AI video monitoring … enables mass control,” digital rights activist Noémie Levain told BBC news.

2. Surveillance drones
3. Fighter jets
4. Helicopters

If you’ve booked a vacation to Paris in August, don’t be shocked when you see bird-like machines flying above your head or catch a chopper in the background of your picture with the Eiffel Tower. “Rafale fighter jets, airspace-monitoring AWACS surveillance flights, Reaper surveillance drones, helicopters that can carry sharpshooters, and equipment to disable drones will police Paris skies, which will be closed during the opening ceremony by a no-fly zone extending for 150 kilometers (93 miles) around the capital,” AP News reported.

5. Tracking geolocation data

In preparation for the Olympics, the French prime minister’s office has negotiated a secret provisional decree that will increase the state’s ability to track citizens’ and visitors' data, including geolocation. Essentially, the French government will be able to track people’s every move, whether that be going to the grocery store or school, worshipping at a church, or attending a political event.

Even though it’s only temporary, what’s to stop French officials from keeping the decree permanently? After all, governments love power. As President Reagan once joked, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!”

6. Wiretapping

Government officials won’t just be tracking people’s every move; they could also listen to everything people say over the phone. Under the same provisional decree, the French government would be allowed to secretly listen in on private citizens’ conversations over the phone, a move borrowed from the KGB playbook.

7. QR codes

During the Olympic games, Parisians and visitors must show QR codes to police officers to get past barricades to enter restricted areas, reminiscent of the nanny-state COVID zones. Dubbed the “Belt of Steel,” a four-mile barricade surrounding Olympic venues will be in place, limiting access to Eiffel Tower viewpoints, the River Seine, and other famous attractions in Paris. Furthermore, these barricades may prove to be a hassle for locals just trying to get to work or go out to eat. An additional, larger no-entry zone will also be in place for automobile traffic.

8. Background checks for residents

Once Parisians actually get into these high-security risk areas, they will still be subject to even more surveillance. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told AP News that people who work and live in the buildings near the River Seine and the opening ceremony will be “cross-checked against security services’ databases, to see whether they have previously been flagged as suspected Islamist extremists or for other radicalism.”

What’s concerning is how French officials might define “radicalism.” Are supporters of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally “radical”? The Washington Post certainly thinks so. If French officials agree, will French nationalists just be banned from certain areas of the city?

9. Houseguest registry

Not only does the French state want to know who’s walking around the streets of Paris, but officials also want to know whom Parisians are inviting over to their homes. According to Deutsche Welle, residents living in restricted areas must register visitors they invite to watch the Olympic games from their balconies, windows, rooftops, or houseboats.

10. A military base

Perhaps the “least worst” example: French officials will set up a massive force of police officers as well as soldiers to shield the city against any potential terrorist threat. AP News reports that up to 45,000 police officers will guard the streets during the Games, in addition to 10,000 soldiers who have “set up the largest military camp in Paris since World War II. … Soldiers should be able to reach any of the city’s Olympic venues within 30 minutes.

Calling up soldiers to be on guard for an event of this grandeur wouldn’t be criticized too harshly if that was all French officials did. Terrorist attacks are still a valid concern in Western Europe. But a massive military base, in addition to fighter jets, drones, AI drones, wiretapping, and more certainly lends Paris a Soviet flavor.