# Morocco - Facial recognition system in public spaces
Morocco, 2021-2022 | Severity: N3

## What Happened
Between 2021 and 2022, the Moroccan government trialed and deployed automated facial recognition systems (AFRS) integrated with CCTV networks in major public spaces and government buildings. While presented as a modern tool for crime prevention and public safety management, the system was heavily criticized by civil liberties groups for functioning as a tool of mass surveillance in an authoritarian context, tracking peaceful activists and journalists without judicial oversight or clear data protection boundaries.

## How MEG 1 acted
The facial recognition system failed both the Dynamic Accuracy Index (DAI) and the Index of Safety and Responsibility (ISR) audits due to the lack of transparent legal basis and the high risk of political weaponization, violating public safety and cognitive liberty.

## MEG 2 Analysis - Legal Framework
* **Agent level:** N3 (individualized/advanced) - mass surveillance and biometric tracking system; high individuation and tracking capacity of specific citizens.
* **Cause (6.1):**
  * **(a) system defect** - design of a biometric tracking system that lacks independent oversight and exhibits potential demographic bias in public spaces (design defect).
  * **(b) autonomous decision error** - the system's decision to flag specific citizens based on opaque, algorithmic risk scores.
* **Attachment of liability:** The public operator is fully liable for the privacy violations and the unauthorized tracking; the developers share liability if they built unvalidated models (6.1a).

## Procedural Mechanism
* **6.2 (architectural human confirmation):** Biometric identification and tracking of specific citizens in public spaces must require strict, independent judicial confirmation before execution.
* **7.1 (independent forensics):** All access logs to the biometric database must be recorded in an unalterable, independent ledger to prevent insider abuse and unauthorized searches.
* **9.4 (least privilege):** The system's unrestricted access to the real-time biometric data of millions of citizens violates the principle of least necessary access.