The deployment of innovative and emerging technologies in Morocco has undergone a fast expansion since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019, sparking several debates about the risks and problems associated with the technology in question, such as mass surveillance, discrimination, censorship, opacity and a lack of robust regulation. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in Morocco, with the government introducing a variety of measures to control the spread of COVID-19 by deploying and testing emerging digital technologies and biometric systems such as digital identity, a COVID-19 contact tracing app, a vaccine passport, and the widespread installation of facial recognition software into surveillance cameras.
Over the past few years, authorities in Morocco have been ramping up efforts to adopt digital technologies while investing millions of dollars in AI-based solutions and tech-solutions, based on the idea that new technology is always the best solution and can solve all problems. The authorities say that their goal is to promote economic growth, increase digitalisation, and strengthen the country’s innovation ecosystem through the new Maroc Digital 2020 strategy and the creation of the Digital Development Agency. However, these emerging technologies, coupled with the strong political and military presence in public life, are harming Morocco’s human rights far more than the economic development they promote, and threatening the protection, promotion and enjoyment of human rights.
Although the Moroccan constitution protects freedom of expression and the right to privacy, it also allows for the surveillance of private communications in certain circumstances, with judicial approval. There are many ambiguous areas involving the discretionary powers granted to judges and intelligence agencies, as well as challenges related to the judiciary's lack of independence and the lack of public scrutiny and proper oversight over the work of intelligence services and their operations. Morocco also has a national regulation for the protection of personal data in place (No.09-08 of 2009), but the law contains vague and broadly defined concepts that would exempt personal data collected and processed in the interest of national defense and the state's internal or external security from protection.
