The King’s Speech today addressed the contentious issue of he use of facial recognition by the police in the Police Reform Bill, along with Digital ID
The Bill, it is said, will ‘establish a new legal framework to underpin law enforcement use of facial recognition and similar technologies, making it clear when use of these technologies can be justified, including creation of a single, expert regulatory body to provide independent advice and oversight.
‘This will be world-leading and is essential for boosting public and policing confidence in the use of these innovative technologies, which has the potential to transform crime outcomes while also generating major efficiencies.’
King Charles III also confirmed that Parliament will proceed with the introduction of Digital ID that will modernise how people interact with public services [Digital Access to Services Bill].
The civil liberties group Big Brother Watch has strongly criticised government plans for digital ID and facial recognition technology, arguing that access to publicly funded services should never require a digital ID, describing the proposed system as intrusive, enormously expensive and unwanted by the public.
Regarding facial recognition, Big Brother Watch welcomed the government’s commitment to introducing new laws to govern the technology, acknowledging that without proper restraints it could undermine privacy. However, the group are sceptical about whether the proposed legislation would deliver the legal safeguards the public needs, pointing out that the government has already committed to a significant expansion of live facial recognition cameras across the country.
The group also warned that combining facial recognition with digital ID systems that treat faces as barcodes would create a surveillance state nightmare.
They concluded: ‘It’s vital that the Government learns from other Western democratic nations on how to protect the public from mass facial recognition surveillance rather than continuing this path which is frankly more akin to authoritarian states.’
Meanwhile, Akiko Hart, Director at Liberty, said: ‘If the Government wants to build public trust as it adopts powerful new technologies that impact our daily lives, it must protect our fundamental rights.
‘On the use of facial recognition technology, we welcome that the Government has finally committed to a dedicated legal framework for its use – something that Liberty has long been calling for.
‘Robust safeguards, oversight, and transparency on the use of facial recognition cameras should have been in place before they were ever introduced to our town centres and high streets.
‘The new framework will need to include clear and consistent rules around how the police use facial recognition to ensure the rights of the public are protected at all times. We will also need to see rigorous oversight from the new regulatory body.
‘On Digital ID, we have seen repeated flip-flopping from the Government. Today in the King’s Speech the Government announced key details of the legislation before its own consultation process with the public had finished.
‘Joining up public services digitally could offer real benefit. However, if this is done by giving every person in the country a single identifying number, as was outlined in the consultation, it would hand the Government huge power over our lives and undermine the principle of a privacy-protecting system.’
Photo: Tumisu
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