**French Police Under Fire Over Use of Facial Recognition Technology** A recent investigation by the investigative group *Disclose* has revealed that police in France are using smartphones equipped with facial recognition technology to access sensitive records during routine identity checks, raising concerns about a breach of French law. According to the investigation, police officers are using police-issued mobile devices to search for individuals in a restricted database using only their photo. The technology has been available to police since 2022 and gendarmes since 2020, according to Interior Ministry documents seen by *Disclose*. The report claims that officers are using facial matching software installed on the devices to identify individuals by cross-referencing their image with the criminal records database (TAJ), which holds millions of photos. This database contains information not only on people accused of offences, but also about victims and missing persons. The investigation found that people in France's three largest cities – Paris, Marseille, and Lyon – reported being photographed and identified by police in the past four years, in some cases without their consent. According to official procedure, only authorised police officers are supposed to access the database, and only when investigating an offence. Consulting it unlawfully is punishable by a fine or even prison time. Documents obtained from France's police oversight body, the IGPN, state that officers "very frequently" open the database during identity checks, raising concerns that access via smartphones will only increase the number of unjustified searches. Privacy groups, including *La Quadrature du Net*, have sounded the alarm over unchecked use of the technology, saying that France lacks a comprehensive legal framework regulating its use. In response to the latest revelations, *La Quadrature du Net* accused the Interior Ministry of knowingly organising "abusive and illegal surveillance". The group points out that current French law only expressly authorises real-time facial recognition as part of investigations of serious crimes or during automated passport scans at border checkpoints. Limited experiments have taken place locally, notably in Nice, which trialled the technology during its carnival in 2019. The use of facial recognition technology has raised significant concerns about privacy and surveillance in France. As the country continues to expand its use of artificial intelligence-powered video surveillance, the need for a comprehensive legal framework regulating the use of facial recognition technology has become increasingly pressing.