The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) welcomed the opportunity to recently respond to a request from the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner on the potential use of live facial recognition by Police Scotland.
This was not a consultation to determine whether Police Scotland will use live facial recognition, but an exploratory conversation to determine the Scottish public’s views on this technology and its potential use in policing. If Police Scotland decide to explore further any implementation of live facial recognition, there will be a separate consultation on this matter before any decision is made.
Key summary of our position
Based on our participatory work with children and young people, practice and policy experience, and investigation of research, we are concerned over the potential overcriminalisation of children and young people which may occur through the use of live facial recognition (LFR).We are also deeply worried by the significant flaws in the technology, most notably racial bias, as well as the potential overzealous use of ‘watchlists’ to effectively restrict the movement of children and young people previously accused of offending.