Saturday, April 08, 2023
The inbuilt racism in the police's new technology
The BBC report that civil rights groups have claimed facial recognition technology will make racism within the police worse.
They say that South Wales Police is set to start reusing the controversial technology after an independent review said it was not discriminatory, but Liberty have said that history showed it would "always be used disproportionately against communities of colour":
Live facial recognition enables police to find people at big events suspected of committing crimes.
In 2020, appeal court judges ruled a trial project to scan thousands of faces by South Wales Police was unlawful.
The force had paused its use of the technology amid concerns over discrimination, but will resume in the wake of a report commissioned in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police.
It found there were minimal discrepancies for race and sex when the technology is used at certain settings.
Liberty, which describes itself as "the UK's largest civil liberties organisation," said the technology was oppressive and had no place in a democracy.
"Our ability to express ideas, communicate with others and engage in democratic processes will be undermined by technology such as facial recognition," said campaigns manager Emmanuelle Andrews.
"The expansion of mass surveillance tools has no place on the streets of a rights respecting democracy."
...
But following a damning report about the Met and concerns about racism, misogyny and homophobia within Gwent Police, campaign groups said they have every right to be concerned.
"Facial recognition doesn't make people safer," Mr Andrews said.
"It entrenches patterns of discrimination and sows division.
"History tells us that surveillance technology will always be used disproportionately against communities of colour and those most marginalised in our society and at a time when racism in UK policing has rightly been highlighted.
"It's simply unjustifiable to use a technology that will make this even worse."
Race Council Cymru's Molara Awen pointed to incidents where the technology has had "difficulty identifying black faces".
She said the decision had been made without the organisation being consulted.
"We know that the justice system does not work equally for black people as it does for white people," she added.
"We're all of a sudden supposed to just trust them? And it's all fine?"
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have also expressed their concerns. Leena Farhat, speakimg on behalf of the party said:
“While it is welcome that South Wales Police have listened to some concerns regarding ingrained bias in this technology, its use still makes myself and many others deeply uncomfortable.
“This technology is only as reliable as the people who programme it and we know from trials in London there is a particularly high error rate for people of black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, as well as for children and women.
“There are strict rules on indiscriminately taking and cross-referencing our fingerprints and DNA but legislation has not caught up to apply to the use of live facial recognition technology.
“We all want to see crime tackled, but Wales should not become a society where innocent people feel as though their every movement is being watched by the police.”
This is clearly a very concerning development.
They say that South Wales Police is set to start reusing the controversial technology after an independent review said it was not discriminatory, but Liberty have said that history showed it would "always be used disproportionately against communities of colour":
Live facial recognition enables police to find people at big events suspected of committing crimes.
In 2020, appeal court judges ruled a trial project to scan thousands of faces by South Wales Police was unlawful.
The force had paused its use of the technology amid concerns over discrimination, but will resume in the wake of a report commissioned in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police.
It found there were minimal discrepancies for race and sex when the technology is used at certain settings.
Liberty, which describes itself as "the UK's largest civil liberties organisation," said the technology was oppressive and had no place in a democracy.
"Our ability to express ideas, communicate with others and engage in democratic processes will be undermined by technology such as facial recognition," said campaigns manager Emmanuelle Andrews.
"The expansion of mass surveillance tools has no place on the streets of a rights respecting democracy."
...
But following a damning report about the Met and concerns about racism, misogyny and homophobia within Gwent Police, campaign groups said they have every right to be concerned.
"Facial recognition doesn't make people safer," Mr Andrews said.
"It entrenches patterns of discrimination and sows division.
"History tells us that surveillance technology will always be used disproportionately against communities of colour and those most marginalised in our society and at a time when racism in UK policing has rightly been highlighted.
"It's simply unjustifiable to use a technology that will make this even worse."
Race Council Cymru's Molara Awen pointed to incidents where the technology has had "difficulty identifying black faces".
She said the decision had been made without the organisation being consulted.
"We know that the justice system does not work equally for black people as it does for white people," she added.
"We're all of a sudden supposed to just trust them? And it's all fine?"
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have also expressed their concerns. Leena Farhat, speakimg on behalf of the party said:
“While it is welcome that South Wales Police have listened to some concerns regarding ingrained bias in this technology, its use still makes myself and many others deeply uncomfortable.
“This technology is only as reliable as the people who programme it and we know from trials in London there is a particularly high error rate for people of black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, as well as for children and women.
“There are strict rules on indiscriminately taking and cross-referencing our fingerprints and DNA but legislation has not caught up to apply to the use of live facial recognition technology.
“We all want to see crime tackled, but Wales should not become a society where innocent people feel as though their every movement is being watched by the police.”
This is clearly a very concerning development.
