Facial recognition technology will have legal safeguards – Benn

Minister Robeson Benn confirmed the government’s intention to implement facial recognition technology, when the issue was raised during the Ministry of Home Affairs’ end-of-year press conference, and highlighted the necessity for legislative measures to ensure proper oversight and protect citizens’ rights. He also emphasised the need to address transnational organised crime and sovereignty issues while balancing them with appropriate legal safeguards.

Last Thursday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed the government’s intention to introduce a biometric project which will allow the authorities to use facial recognition software. This software, he said, will be used to track people with criminal records and pinpoint their exact location at any given time. Jagdeo added that the soon-to-be constructed 12-storey Brickdam Police Station, which will be the “nerve centre” for crime fighting across the country, will assist in bolstering Guyana’s security plan.

Globally, the use of facial recognition software has attracted grave concern that it could result in a breach of privacy and be abused if in the control of unaccountable authorities. In August 2019, then Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan had dismissed privacy concerns over the use of face recognition and tracking technology as part of the CCTV Surveillance system, saying that he saw no risk of the system being abused.

However, University of Guyana lecturer Sherwood Lowe and computer engineers Heather Chin and Darshanand Khusial, had voiced concern over the use of the technology, saying that it posed a risk of abuse. They had recommended that a privacy impact assessment be conducted. Khusial had also pointed to the fact that facial recognition technology has been banned in some parts of California and Texas.

Meanwhile, the subject of surveillance cameras and oversight mechanisms was also broached, and Benn explained that the police force’s command centre reviews camera footage when necessary. This, he said, is done with the command centre working in conjunction with the intelligence agency within the force. Benn also mentioned the presence of an oversight committee to prevent abuses, which would be reviewed in the near future.