Garda use of facial recognition technologies unnecessary and disproportionate

Sir, – The Minister for Justice plans to expand the Garda’s surveillance powers with policing facial recognition technologies (FRT). While some believe that using FRT may help make us safer, the undersigned experts from seven universities and 12 NGOs in Ireland know the risks are too significant.

Policing FRT is used as a form of mass surveillance that will enable the identification and tracking of individuals without warranted suspicion. It has the ability to scan large amounts of publicly captured visual data so it can draw powerful inferences about people, the vast majority of whom would be of no interest whatsoever to the gardaí. While public safety and national security can sometimes supersede privacy rights, the intrusions of policing FRT surveillance are wholly unnecessary and disproportionate. There is a danger that the use of FRT will have significant chilling effects, altering how people use public and online spaces.

Even though this technology is available for policing, it does not mean we should use or trust it. It is established by independent researchers to be biased and discriminatory, particularly for anyone who is not a white man. Scientists agree that the technology is simply not advanced enough and does not live up to the claims of its developers. However, even if accuracy were to improve, because the technology can be deployed indiscriminately, it risks increasing the problem of over-policing in areas with marginalised groups, leading to disproportionate incrimination, racial and minority ethnic profiling, and derailing of people’s lives.

Meanwhile, data protection risks abound according to leading European authorities. The Garda already has unresolved issues surrounding the use of CCTV, automatic number-plate recognition, drones and body-worn cameras. It is important for Irish authorities to resolve these concerns before adopting new technologies like FRT which also rely on the gathering and analysis of large amounts of data.

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While the Government is attempting to create a legal basis for FRT use by amending the An Garda Síochána (Digital Recording) Bill, this seems premature, given Ireland will be subject to the provisions of the forthcoming European artificial intelligence regulatory framework. We question why the Government is rushing to legalise this very risky tech at the committee stage, thereby bypassing the usual democratic opportunities for consultation and robust debate.

The risks presented are significant enough in a policing context that they cannot currently be safeguarded by legislation. There are currently no circumstances in which policing FRT can be safely rolled out in Ireland. We have seen similar concern from academics, civil societies, politicians and stakeholders around the world, including calls for bans from the European Parliament. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has launched a campaign.

It is important for the Minister to recognise the dangers of this intrusive tech and to look at the emerging research by independent experts. We ask that the Minister chooses the safest approach for Ireland and install a full moratorium on policing FRT. – Yours, etc,

ELIZABETH FARRIES,

Assistant Professor

and Co-Director,

UCD Centre

for Digital Policy;

CIARA BRACKEN-ROCHE,

Assistant Professor,

School of Law

and Criminology,

Maynooth University;

Prof APHRA KERR,

Department of Sociology,

Maynooth University;

Prof BARRY O’SULLIVAN,

Insight SFI Research

School of Computer Science

UCC;

Prof ROB KITCHIN, MRIA

Social Sciences Institute,

Maynooth University;

LIAM HERRICK,

Executive Director,

Irish Council

for Civil Liberties;

OLGA CRONIN,

Policy Officer,

Irish Council

for Civil Liberties;

ABEBA BIRHANE,

Assistant Professor,

Complex Software Lab,

UCD;

ADELINE BERRY,

Chair,

Intersex Ireland;

ANDREA RENDA,

Professor,

Centre for European

Policy Studies,

European University

Institute,

UCD Centre

for Digital Policy;

ANTÓIN Ó LACHTNÁIN

Director,

Digital Rights Ireland;

BRIAN COLLINS

Interim Advocacy

Service Manager,

Nasc, the Migrant

and Refugee Rights Centre;

BRIAN KILLORAN,

CEO,

Immigrant Council

of Ireland;

BULELANI MFACO,

Spokesperson for the

Movement of Asylum

Seekers in Ireland;

COLM O’GORMAN,

Executive Director

of Amnesty International

Ireland;

DAVE LEWIS,

Associate Professor,

Head of the AI Discipline,

School of Computer Science

and Statistics, TCD;

DOIREANN ANSBRO,

Head of Legal and Policy,

Irish Council

for Civil Liberties;

EOIN O’DELL,

Associate Professor,

School of Law, TCD;

Prof EUGENIA SIAPERA,

Head of School,

Co-Director,

UCD Centre

for Digital Policy;

Prof GIUSEPPE

MAZZIOTTI, FTCD

School of Law, TCD;

JASON KALATHAS.

PhD Student/Researcher,

UCD School of Information

and Communication

Studies;

Dr JOHNNY RYAN,

Senior Fellow,

Irish Council

for Civil Liberties;

Prof KALPANA SHANKAR,

School of Information

and Communications

Studies, UCD;

Dr KRIS SHRISHAK,

Technology Fellow,

Irish Council

for Civil Liberties;

KYLIE JARRETT

Associate Professor,

Department of

Media Studies,

Maynooth University.

LAI MA,

Assistant Professor,

Director of MLIS and

GradDipLIS

Programmes, UCD;

LAURA NOLAN,

Tech Inquiry;

LAYLA WADE,

Campaigner,

Uplift;

LIZ CAROLAN;

Member,

UCD Centre

for Digital Policy;

Dr MARCO BASTOS,

Ad Astra Fellow,

Executive,

UCD Centre

for Digital Policy;

MARGUERITE BARRY,

Associate Professor,

School of Information

and Communications

Studies, UCD;

MARTIN COLLINS

Co-Director,

Pavee Point Traveller

and Roma Centre;

PÁRAIC KERRIGAN,

Assistant Professor,

School of Information

and Communications

Studies, UCD;

Prof MICHAEL MADDEN,

Professor,

School of Computer Science,

NUI Galway;

NERY RAMATI

Human Rights Lawyer,

PhD Candidate,

School of Law

and Government, DCU;

Dr NIAMH KIRK,

Lecturer,

University of Limerick,

Visiting Fellow,

UCD Centre

for Digital Policy;

PALOMA VIEJO OTERO,

Post Doctoral Research,

Ireland;

DR RÓISÍN

Á COSTELLO BL,

Ollamh Cúnta/Assistant

Professor,

School of Law

and Government, DCU;

SHANE O’CURRY,

Director,

Irish Network

Against Racism;

SIMON McGARR,

Solicitor,

Digital Rights Ireland;

Dr STEFANIE HAVELKA,

Teaching Fellow,

School of Information

and Communication

Studies, UCD;

Dr STEPHEN FARRELL,

Research Fellow,

School of Computer Science

and Statistics, TCD;

SUSAN LEAVY,

Assistant Professor,

School of Information

and Communications

Studies, UCD;

TEMI

LASADE-ANDERSON;

Advisory Board,

UCD Centre

for Digital Policy,

PhD Student,

King’s College London;

TIJANA MILOSEVIC,

Elite-S research fellow,

DCU;

TINA KOLOS ORBÁN,

CEO,

Transgender

Equality Network Ireland;

TJ McINTYRE,

Associate Professor,

Sutherland School of Law,

Chair,

Digital Rights Ireland;

Dr VICKY CONWAY,

Associate Professor,

School of Law

and Government,

Dublin City University;

EDEL McGINLEY,

Director,

Migrants Rights

Centre Ireland.