scholarly journals The ethics of facial recognition technologies, surveillance, and accountability in an age of artificial intelligence: a comparative analysis of US, EU, and UK regulatory frameworks

AI and Ethics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Almeida ◽  
Konstantin Shmarko ◽  
Elizabeth Lomas

AbstractThe rapid development of facial recognition technologies (FRT) has led to complex ethical choices in terms of balancing individual privacy rights versus delivering societal safety. Within this space, increasingly commonplace use of these technologies by law enforcement agencies has presented a particular lens for probing this complex landscape, its application, and the acceptable extent of citizen surveillance. This analysis focuses on the regulatory contexts and recent case law in the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), and European Union (EU) in terms of the use and misuse of FRT by law enforcement agencies. In the case of the USA, it is one of the main global regions in which the technology is being rapidly evolved, and yet, it has a patchwork of legislation with less emphasis on data protection and privacy. Within the context of the EU and the UK, there has been a critical focus on the development of accountability requirements particularly when considered in the context of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the legal focus on Privacy by Design (PbD). However, globally, there is no standardised human rights framework and regulatory requirements that can be easily applied to FRT rollout. This article contains a discursive discussion considering the complexity of the ethical and regulatory dimensions at play in these spaces including considering data protection and human rights frameworks. It concludes that data protection impact assessments (DPIA) and human rights impact assessments together with greater transparency, regulation, audit and explanation of FRT use, and application in individual contexts would improve FRT deployments. In addition, it sets out ten critical questions which it suggests need to be answered for the successful development and deployment of FRT and AI more broadly. It is suggested that these should be answered by lawmakers, policy makers, AI developers, and adopters.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-389
Author(s):  
Isadora Neroni Rezende

Since 2019, over 600 law enforcement agencies across the United States have started using a groundbreaking facial recognition app designed by Clearview AI, a tech start-up which now plans to market its technology also in Europe. While the Clearview app is an expression of the wider phenomenon of the repurposing of privately held data in the law enforcement context, its use in criminal proceedings is likely to encroach on individuals’ rights in unprecedented ways. Indeed, the Clearview app goes far beyond traditional facial recognition tools. If these have been historically limited to matching government-stored images, Clearview now combines its technology with a database of over three billion images published on the Internet. Against this background, this article will review the use of this new investigative tool in light of the European Union (EU) legal framework on privacy and data protection. The proposed assessment will proceed as follows. Firstly, it will briefly assess the lawfulness of Clearview AI’s data scraping practices under the General Data Protection Regulation. Secondly, it will discuss the transfer of scraped data from the company to EU law enforcement agencies under the regime of the Directive 2016/680/EU (the Directive). Finally, it will analyse the compliance of the Clearview app with art 10 of the Police Directive, which lays down the criteria for lawful processing of biometric data. More specifically, this last analysis will focus on the strict necessity test, as defined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights. Following this assessment, it will be argued that the Clearview app’s use in criminal proceedings is highly problematic in light of the EU legislation on privacy and data protection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. p119
Author(s):  
Ansia Storm

Purpose—The purpose of this paper was to compare three first-world countries’ law enforcement agencies to those of South Africa. The aim was to identify areas where South Africa’s agencies can improve to take the fighting of corruption to a higher level, and in doing so, improve their ranking on Transparency International’s scale, and their Corruption Perception Index.Design/methodology/approach—The author compared South Africa’s law enforcement agencies to those of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to identify possible areas where South Africa’s agencies can improve.Findings—The results indicate preliminary support for areas in South Africa’s law enforcement agencies that need restructuring and improvement.Practical implications—Improved law enforcement agencies will assist in the fight against corruption, improving South Africa’s corruption perception index (among others), which might encourage foreign investment.Originality/value—The results of this study point to opportunities to strengthen law enforcement agencies in South Africa, which will result in improved crime-fighting abilities, higher prosecution rates, and improved crime statistics.Research limitations—Law enforcement agencies (which deals with corruption in general) from the USA, the U.K., and Australia will be explored and compared with those of South Africa.


2020 ◽  
pp. 244-251
Author(s):  
І. В. Серединський

The scientific article examines the issues of areas of international cooperation in the field of police training. Emphasis is placed on the best practices of Western Europe, the United States and Canada. At first it was emphasized that in modern conditions there is a rapid development of international relations on the principles of integration and mutual enrichment, and not on the terms of rigid differentiation. It is determined that the interaction is especially evident in the field of international cooperation of European law enforcement agencies. The author found that international police cooperation is carried out in several main areas: 1) assistance in training for foreign law enforcement agencies; 2) joint research of problems of struggle against offenses; 3) exchange of experience in the field of police training; 4) provision of logistical and advisory assistance. Emphasis is placed on the fact that an important factor is the recognition by the international community among other areas and the need for cooperation in the field of personnel training. The author formulates the main directions of international cooperation in the field of police training, in particular: integration into international bodies and organizations in the field of police training; integration into international police educational institutions; integration into the education system of leading foreign educational institutions, study of experience, analysis of the work of structural units, study of the scale of social activity, the field of scientific research, etc .; creating conditions for the development of police education in a particular country with the help of international partners and the experience of foreign countries; provision-receipt on a mutual, and more often on a unilateral basis to foreign colleagues of means of equipment, communication, equipment for use in police training. Finally, it is noted that the most intensive and effective police cooperation is carried out by the police of highly developed countries with similar economic, political and social conditions, similar legal attitudes and principles of law enforcement.


2021 ◽  
pp. 149-154
Author(s):  
V. BOKHENKO

The article is devoted to the analysis of the counter-terrorism system in the United States. The system of subjects of fight against terrorism, and also innovations in anti-terrorist activity of law enforcement agencies and special services of the USA is defined. Some US regulations in the field of counter-terrorism are considered. The role of the public in the fight against terrorism is noted, the mechanisms of public involvement in this activity are highlighted.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amada Armenta

Deporting “criminal aliens” has become the highest priority in American immigration enforcement. Today, most deportations are achieved through the “crimmigration” system, a term that describes the convergence of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems. Emerging research argues that U.S. immigration enforcement is a “racial project” that subordinates and racializes Latino residents in the United States. This article examines the role of local law enforcement agencies in the racialization process by focusing on the techniques and logics that drive law enforcement practices across two agencies, I argue that local law enforcement agents racialize Latinos by punishing illegality through their daily, and sometimes mundane, practices. Investigatory traffic stops put Latinos at disproportionate risk of arrest and citation, and processing at the local jail subjects unauthorized immigrants to deportation. Although a variety of local actors sustain the deportation system, most do not see themselves as active participants in immigrant removal and they explain their behavior through a colorblind ideology. This colorblind ideology obscures and naturalizes how organizational practices and laws converge to systematically criminalize and punish Latinos in the United States.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104398622199988
Author(s):  
Janice Iwama ◽  
Jack McDevitt ◽  
Robert Bieniecki

Although partnerships between researchers and police practitioners have increased over the last few decades in some of the largest police agencies in the United States, very few small agencies have engaged in a partnership with a researcher. Of the 18,000 local police agencies in the United States, small agencies with less than 25 sworn officers make up about three quarters of all police agencies. To support future collaborations between researchers and smaller police agencies, like those in Douglas County, Kansas, this article identifies challenges that researchers can address and explores how these relationships can benefit small police agencies across the United States.


JURNAL BELO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-85
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ingelyne Nussy

ABSTRACT Recognition and protection of a guarantee of human dignity to earn a respectable place in the eyes of the law and government. Related to the interests of law enforcement, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for the purpose of wiretapping evidence in court, while will protecting the privacyrights of suspects. Legal protections for the accused to be seen as matter of law adopted. Therefore, the protection of the privacy rights of a person to be seen in the investigation process. For the Commission to conduct wiretaps should see privacy rights as stipulated in the law and the government should establish a special set of rules that intercepts, thus providing the possibility for law enforcement has the authority to do so does not conflict with human rights.


Author(s):  
BONTUR LUGARD Sunday

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is inarguably the most disrupting occurrence in human affairs since the World War II. This virus left governments, communities and systems with the legal, social and moral duties to protect from its impacts. However, some of the approaches adopted towards protecting the victims, potential victims, and the entire society, especially in Nigeria, caused more harm than the disease itself. This work reviews the impact of the curtailment measures adopted by governments in Nigeria and their adverse bearing on human rights, especially the right to life as a sacrosanct and universal right. It further examines how law enforcement agencies’ operations - within the confines of the institutional and international best practices - their non-adherence to the rules of engagement or principles of ethical operations have resulted in the violation of human rights, rather than protecting them. It also analyses the impact of the virus on the right to health and access to medical facilities in times of emergencies in Nigeria and concludes that both rights were either violated or not realized within the context of the ‘war’ against the COVID-19 pandemic. This work advocates for the continuous training on human rights responsibilities of law enforcement agents, a more rigorous recruitment process with a minimum qualification from school certificate to ordinary national diploma, the use of video camera in the course of operations, among others that would help safeguard the rights of citizens in times of emergencies like the COVID-19.


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