The Municipality of Greater Amman has announced plans to use
facial recognition technology (FRT) starting next year. FRT may be used in a
variety of applications, including security, law enforcement, and traffic flow.
اضافة اعلان
The government says that its use will help to improve
security, reduce crime, and make the Capital more efficient. The Jordanian
government has said that it will take steps to protect people's privacy and
prevent the misuse of facial recognition technology. In addition, it will
develop policies and regulations that govern the use of facial recognition
technology and train law enforcement officers in its responsible use.
However, it is important to weigh the potential benefits and
risks of the Jordanian government's plans to use facial recognition technology
carefully. The government should take steps to protect people's privacy and
prevent the misuse of this technology.
How it works
FRT works by extracting key features from a person's face,
such as the distance between their eyes, the shape of their nose, and the
curvature of their jawline. These features are then compared to a database of
known faces to find a match.
Enforcement
FRT can be used to identify criminals, suspects, and missing
persons. It can also be used to control access to buildings and other secure
areas. Face recognition technology is also used by many social media platforms
to identify and tag people in photos. Furthermore, it is used by many
smartphones and tablets to unlock devices and verify payments.
Even retail has used Face recognition technology to identify
and track customers. Therefore, strong regulations are important to protect
privacy and prevent the misuse of face recognition technology.
Patchwork legislation
The rapid development of FRT has led to complex ethical
choices in terms of balancing individual privacy rights versus delivering
societal safety. Within this space, an 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.
Countries such as the United States and the UK, as well as
the EU, have adopted this technology but law enforcement in those states has
misused it Quite often. 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). As a consequence, the EU has adopted various mechanisms to protect privacy such as Data
protection impact assessments (DPIA) and human rights impact assessments
together with greater transparency and regulation regarding FRT use.
Therefore, in order to legitimize the use of FRT,
governments and organizations need to implement policies that address concerns
regarding ethics and privacy.
Transparency
Governments should be transparent about how they are using
FRT. This includes disclosing the types of FRT systems they are using, the data
that is being used to train these systems, and the decisions that these systems
are making.
Accountability
Further, authorities
should be accountable for the use of FRT. This means that there should be a
clear process for reviewing and challenging the decisions made by FRT systems.
Impartiality
FRT systems should be designed to be fair and unbiased. This
means that FRT systems should not discriminate against any particular group of
people. Accordingly, Government agencies could establish a review board that is
responsible for reviewing and challenging the decisions made by FRT systems.
In like manner, FRT
systems should be used under human oversight. Hence, humans should have the
ability to review and override the decisions made by FRT systems.
Additionally, Privacy is a principle, therefore, FRT systems should be used in a way
that respects the privacy of individuals. Thus, FRT systems should only collect
the data that is necessary for the intended purpose and the data should be used
only for that purpose.
Security
FRT systems have to be secure. This means that FRT systems
should be protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of data.
Governments should Develop a national FRT strategy: This strategy should outline the
government's vision for the use of FRT and identify the specific areas where
FRT can be used to improve public safety or provide other benefits. Government
agencies should only retain data as long as it is necessary for the intended
purpose. Among other policies, FRT
systems should only share data with other parties if it is necessary for the
intended purpose and if the other parties have adequate privacy and security
measures in place.
Restrictions and
regulations
To some degree, government agencies should restrict the use
of FRT.
Some jurisdictions have banned the use of FRT in public
places, such as schools and parks. Other jurisdictions have banned the use of
FRT by law enforcement without a warrant; for example, in 2019, San Francisco
became the first major city in the United States to ban the use of FRT by city
agencies. The ban includes the use of FRT for surveillance, identification, and
tracking.
Furthermore, some countries have limited the type of data
that can be collected, such as demographic data. Others have limited the use of
FRT systems to certain types of crimes; for example, in 2021, the EU passed a
law that prohibits the use of FRT systems to identify individuals in public
places without their consent. The law also limits the type of data that can be
collected and used by FRT systems.
Some authorities Implemented
strong data security measures. This
will help to protect facial images from unauthorized access, use, or
disclosure; for example, in 2021, the United States National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) published a framework for the responsible
development and use of FRT. The framework includes recommendations for
implementing strong data security measures.
In addition, other countries have Established oversight
mechanisms. This could include
independent audits and reviews of FRT systems, as well as a process for
individuals to challenge the decisions made by FRT systems; for instance, in
2021, the Canadian government established a working group to study the use of
FRT by law enforcement. The working group is expected to make recommendations
on how to ensure that FRT is used in a responsible and ethical way.
Hamza Alakaleek is a Corporate lawyer and tax
consultant with post-graduate degrees in international political economy,
international business law, and law and technology with a focus on internet of
things, artificial intelligence, and data protection.
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