MSPS have backed a plan for a biometrics tzar who would keep tabs on the police use of personal data such as eye scans, facial images and fingerprints.
However, the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee is calling for the new biometrics commissioner to be given extra powers to keep personal data safe and protect privacy.
The MSPs said that what is currently proposed is “insufficient” and would risk undermining confidence in the “proper and proportionate use of biometrics” by the authorities.
Facial recognition technology in particular has already become highly controversial, particularly in England and Wales, where security services such as South Wales Police and the London Metropolitan Police have trialled the use of “live” facial recognition in a number of areas.
READ MORE: MSPs told of plans for police biometrics watchdog position
Images which could be used for facial recognition can come from cameras worn on the body, CCTV, or potentially mobile phones and civil liberties campaign groups argue that its use is incompatible with the right to privacy. The new technology can either be “‘retrospective” or “live”. “Retrospective” technology involves the passive collection of data which is then analysed at a later date as and when the need arises.
By contrast, “live” methods are constantly in contact with a database which maps and compares the biometrics as they come in.
Police Scotland has said it is already using retrospective facial recognition from recorded CCTV by matching it against images in the UK-wide Police National Database but is awaiting the appointment of the biometrics commissioner before trialling live facial recognition.
The Justice Committee has now backed the general principles of the Bill which, if passed, will create a Scottish biometrics commissioner and establish a code of practice for the use of biometrics by the police.
They said the creation of the post was both timely and necessary because while biometric policing techniques incorporate traditional methods such as fingerprinting, they can also involve new technology like voice pattern analysis and facial recognition. The committee agreed the commissioner’s role should be flexible to allow adaptation to new forms of biometric data which are not yet considered or used by the police but added that the provisions of the Bill should be strengthened.
At the moment, it is proposed that the commissioner would have oversight over Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority only, but the committee said the postholder should also have oversight of biometric data used and held by other policing bodies operating in Scotland, such as the British Transport Police and the National Crime Agency.
The MSPs also want the commissioner to have greater enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the code of practice.
Committee convener, Margaret Mitchell MSP said that while biometrics could be a vital tool in helping to identify those who have broken the law, it was important to protect human rights and privacy. “Identifying criminals and keeping society safe is at the core of the police,” she said.
“Biometric data can be a great help achieving both these objectives.
“However, its use must be proportionate, and properly checked.
“As technology advances at lightning pace and ever more information becomes available to the police, the need for this commissioner to ensure that public and human rights concerns are kept to the fore becomes ever more pressing.
“While Members welcome the creation of a biometrics commissioner, the committee has identified some important areas where the legislation needs to be strengthened.
“To ensure the commissioner has the necessary teeth and oversight to protect privacy effectively, the committee wants to see stronger enforcement powers and other policing bodies added to the commissioner’s remit before their office is created.
“The committee also want to protect human rights, privacy, and delivering community safety to be enshrined in the Bill, and to underpin any use of biometric data by police.”
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