Technopolice on Félix Tréguer

Odyssey 2.0: Undoing the Machine-World

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Three years ago Odyssée 2.0 came out. This book (in French) was born from a photographic and literary project freely inspired by Homer’s myth. Together with photographer Alexa Brunet, we traced Ulysses’ wanderings through Technopolis, a fictional and dystopian “Smart City.”

Below is the translation of the introduction I wrote for that occasion —it had never been published online. In it, I explore the didactic virtues of Greek myths for thinking through the tensions between technological progress and emancipation, before touching on various themes addressed in the photographic series and the accompanying tale we created.

The Practical Limits of Algorithmic Transparency: Lessons from France

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper draws on a talk given a few months ago at the International Conference “Algorithmic transparency and the digital rule of law”, at the Sciences Po Paris Law School. Thanks to Lucas Anjos and Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi for the invitation.

Abstract

In the face of concerns raised by AI systems in recent years, transparency has emerged as a central governance principle, enshrined in regulations from France’s Digital Republic Law to the EU AI Act. This talk examines the practical enforcement of algorithmic transparency provisions through action-research conducted by La Quadrature du Net, a French digital rights organization. Drawing on five years of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests targeting surveillance algorithms deployed by French public authorities, we document systematic enforcement failures that render transparency requirements largely symbolic. Our findings suggest that transparency operates primarily as a legitimizing device for algorithmic governance rather than as an effective accountability mechanism.

Olympic Surveillance Between Paris and London

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks to Emma Mc Cluskey and Akos Kopper, a cross-interview with Myrtille Picaud and Pete Fussey has just been published in the journal PARISS (Political Anthropological Research on International Social Sciences). In it, we look back at surveillance during the Paris 2024 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

Abstract

Pete Fussey conducted extensive research on Olympic surveillance in London, and Myrtille Picaud, an urban policy sociologist, carried out fieldwork on the Paris Games.

Predictive Policing in France: Calling for a Ban

Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As part of a European initiative coordinated by Statewatch, me and my colleague Eda Nano worked with La Quadrature du Net for a report on the state of predictive policing in France. In light of the information gathered, and given the dangers these systems carry when they incorporate socio-demographic data as a basis for their recommendations, we call for their ban.

After documenting back in 2017 the arrival of so-called predictive policing systems, and then being confronted with the lack of up-to-date information and real public debate, we sought to investigate them in more detail. For this report, we have therefore compiled the data available on several predictive policing software systems formerly or currently in use within French police forces. These include:

Promises & Pitfalls of Activist-Researcher Collaborations

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In late January, I took a train up North to attend a conference on predictive policing organized at the IT University of Copenhagen. This international gathering brought together researchers working on the transformation of police surveillance in the digital age, with a particular focus on predictive policing.

Predictive policing in France

Together with Edlira Nano (who sadly could not make the trip), we presented an overview of predictive policing in France titled “From Myth-Making to Quiet Dereliction”.

A visit at the gala of AN2V, the French video-surveillance lobby

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 11:58:00 +0000

In French only.

Il a fallu débourser 180€ et s’arracher à la torpeur de ce début d’été pour gagner le droit de s’attabler incognito au beau milieu du « milieu » français de la vidéosurveillance policière. L’AN2V, ou association nationale de la vidéoprotection, tenait l’une de ses « nuits de l’AN2V » à Paris le 27 juin dernier.

Événement biennal, les « nuits » sont le moment le plus people de cette association de fabricants, de distributeurs, d’intégrateurs, bref de marchands des milliers de caméras de surveillance installées à grands frais dans nos villes et villages.

Action-Research on Algorithmic Policing

Sun, 15 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In June, during the European Workshops in International Studies, I presented of a draft paper regarding ongoing action-research concerning algorithmic urban policing, analyzing methodological and political challenges of fieldwork on AI-powered surveillance systems.

Abstract

This paper examines methodological and epistemological issues of action-research on algorithmic policing, based on empirical investigation of AI-powered surveillance system experiments in the French urban context. It questions conditions for producing critical knowledge about technical objects surrounded by opacity and protected by both commercial and security secrecy.