"UK police continue to use live facial recognition (LFR) in public spaces, despite resistance from advocacy groups" - Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation, and Law at Brunel University, analyses potentials and threats of using LFR as a tool to enhance effective criminal investigation and public safety.
Dr Gikay points out some necessary legal adjustments, including:
- The police should consider implementing a guidance barring the deployment of the technology in political events such as protests to ensure that the technology does not have a chilling effect on the exercise of civil and political rights.
- Overt (transparent) deployment of the technology may be an inefficient investigative tool.
- Overt use should be limited to instances where police merely want to deter crime or keep an eye on violent individuals who go to places such as sporting events with the intent to cause violence.
- The police could also circumvent their transparency obligations and violate the law by turning an overt surveillance operation into a covert one, the latter being permitted only upon judicial approval.
- The police in the UK currently use the technology to track people on their watchlists, but this can include even those charged with minor crimes.
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Reported by:
Eliza Kania
eliza.kania@brunel.ac.uk