UK rights committee questions police use of FRT on children, bias report

The UK Joint Committee on Human Rights has posed a series of questions to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood about police use of facial recognition. In particular, the Committee wants details about Home Office’s intentions for including children on biometric watchlists, and protections against racial bias.

The Committee points to the consultation Home Office is carrying out, as well as the investigation of UK police watchlists by Liberty and The Times, which showed 1,600 incidents of images of children between 12 and 18 years old being included on live facial recognition reference datasets. And it places its concerns within the context of an ongoing social dialogue about the technology’s use.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has expressed deep concern about the presence of young people on watchlists, the letter notes. The ICO has called for more transparency on bias, and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners has emphasized the need for improved governance.

Then-Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Fraser Sampson told the Committee in early-2023 that for facial recognition, establishing the “absence of bias or inappropriate technical functioning is on you to produce, publish and keep under review before you even think of using it.” The Committee has also been holding hearings on “Human Rights and the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence,” which have touched on facial recognition in law enforcement.

On children, the letter notes that College of Policing APP (authorized professional practice) guidance on facial recognition recognizes that placing children on watchlists is a particularly sensitive practice, but does not limit it.

The Committee asks Home Office what steps it is taking to ensure children’s rights are respected in law enforcement deployments of FRT, if it will introduce limits to the inclusion of children, and if any primary legislation on a legal framework is planned.

Minister of State David Hanson will consult with the Children’s Commissioner as he works on a new legal framework for the use of biometrics and facial recognition by law enforcement, which the Committee welcomes.

On bias, the Committee asks if the National Physical Laboratory’s finding will affect current deployments, and what the time frame is on a report His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary is writing about the algorithm.

The letter does not ask why the Police National Database is still using a legacy version of the facial recognition algorithm from Cognitec, despite multiple updates.

The letter concludes with a request for a response by January 6.

Article Topics

biometric bias  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  children  |  Cognitec  |  facial recognition  |  police  |  UK