Safeguards in Garda facial recognition technology bill do not go far enough — IHREC 

In the wake of the Dublin riots, Justice Minister Helen McEntee received Government approval to fasttrack the publication of the General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2023, which will allow An Garda Síochána to use FRT in specific circumstances. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

Legislation on the proposed use of facial recognition technology (FRT) by An Garda Síochána does not go far enough to safeguard people’s fundamental rights, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has said.

Last December, in the wake of the Dublin riots the previous month, Justice Minister Helen McEntee received Government approval to fasttrack the publication of the General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2023, which will allow An Garda Síochána to use FRT in specific circumstances.

Speaking at the time, Ms McEntee said there had been “an explosion in the use of digital data in criminal investigations, and that without adequate data analysis tools, the length of criminal investigations will increase”.

She also said gardaí were having to “trawl through thousands of hours of CCTV” during investigations, with 12,000 hours of footage examined as part of the probe into the Dublin riots.

“Facial recognition technology will dramatically save time, speed up investigations and free up Garda resources for the high visibility policing we all want to see,” she said.

Concerns

In the months since, several groups have raised concerns about the use of FRT. 

In February, an Oireachtas committee heard FRT issues in other jurisdictions showed the technology was “deeply flawed” as well as being “ineffective and intrusive”.

Digital Rights Ireland, the Law Society of Ireland, and the Data Protection Commission, have also expressed concerns about FRT, while the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said “foundational questions” about its deployment remain unanswered

In its submission to Justice Minister on the bill, the IHREC said though it recognised An Garda Síochána needed to transform its digital capabilities in order to be supported as a modern police service, "compliance with human rights and equality principles is an essential part of democracy and the rule of law, and an appropriate balance must be struck between competing rights".

“The use of facial recognition technologies can lead to profiling or the flagging and tracking of individuals on the basis of a protected characteristic — which can give rise to discriminatory outcomes," the commision said. 

It recommends the human rights and equality implications of FRT be “subject to independent and effective scrutiny, by either an existing body, such as the new Policing and Community Safety Authority, or the establishment of a new body, such as an independent group on emerging technologies”.

It also calls for FRT to be subject to judicial authorisation and for any authorisation granted to set out the nature, scope and duration of the approval, and for the Government’s bill on the matter to include the “necessary procedural safeguards and limitations with regard to the power to use facial recognition technology”.

“These powers should be used only for relevant and proportionate offences that are appropriate for the use of biometric identification,” it added.

“Crucially, we ask that the human rights and equality obligations on Garda personnel are clear and precise, and that the consequences which follow from a failure to observe these obligations are clearly set out in the legislation.” 

IHREC director Deirdre Malone said the use of biometric identification and facial recognition technologies represents “a radical upturn in the policing powers of the State”.

“This places a clear responsibility on members of An Garda Síochána to ensure that these powers are only used in in a manner that is consistent with both the act and code of practice.” 

Ms Malone said it was vital the proposed act incorporated from the outset “the necessary human rights and equality protections that are an essential part of our democracy and the rule of law”.