Controversial “facial recognition” software installed on cameras in Glasgow will be used to monitor crowds and look out for intruders or people loitering in parks, landmarks and back lanes.
The details were revealed in guidance for staff on how to use the Suspect Search system, which has been installed in about 70 CCTV cameras in the city.
The guidance shows that officers of Police Scotland and staff of Community Safety Glasgow, the Glasgow City Council arm’s-length body, will make use of “advanced video analytics” to track down individuals involved in crime or anti-social behaviour, and attempt to locate vulnerable individuals and missing children.
However, a privacy campaigner who forced the release of the document under Freedom of Information laws has warned of a lack of transparency over how the system will be used, and questioned whether users will need to be authorised and if so who by.
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Pippa King said: “I had to go to the information commissioner to get Glasgow to release this document. But it still doesn’t tell us whether they will have to seek legal advice or consult human rights groups about this.
“For example, who decides what loitering is, and what areas people are to be excluded from? Who is going to oversee and check this? Nobody, I suspect. There is no other person-tracking system operating like this in Europe.”
Ms King said the public is not being sufficiently informed about a significant change in the capabilities of CCTV in public areas.
“People should have an expectation they can live their lives free of intrusion and surveillance. If you want to live in Glasgow you may soon not have that choice.”
The document, entititled Operational Use Of Advanced Video Analytics, sets out an overview of how Community Safety Glasgow (CSG) will use the system.
The system has been described as facial recognition, but a CSG document setting out its use says “the advance functions do not provide facial recognition, emotional recognition or any other biometric type functionality”.
This is believed to reflect the fact that while the software can suggest potential matches, a human operator then has to review them to confirm an identification.
Nevertheless, it also says a still image of a person of interest could be fed into the system, which will then provide possible matches and routes they may have followed. If there is no image, it suggests an image similar to a photofit can be used, adding: “If no image is available an Avatar can be created of the description, which, once completed, can be put into the system for possible matches.”
The document says the system does not need to be watched, as it can be set to prompt an operator-only alert when there is something of interest to view.
“Standard” uses, it says, would be to detect intrusion in identified areas “such as parks (nights), Glasgow landmarks (fountains), or areas identified by communities causing concerns (lanes, play areas).”
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The technology will also be used to set up cameras so they alert officers if someone enters a specified area, and to identify individuals deemed to be loitering. CSG also stresses the use of the system in locating criminals, identifying vulnerable people and tracking and locating missing children.
But Ms King is unconvinced. “They may not call it facial recognition but it is certainly capable of recognising faces,” she said. She is also not persuaded by the fact the document stresses any use will be logged, and “at no point will the system be used to track or monitor individual not involved in any crime or ASB”.
“What defines anti-social behaviour and who decides?” she said.
She said that while emphasising using the system to find children is understandable, it is misleading.
“They talk about using it to find missing children. But it is called Suspect Search; that is what it is for.”
However, Ms King believes legal issues may be preventing Suspect Search from being switched on.
“The delay was originally because of the Data ProtectionAact, then I was told it was being delayed to assess the implications of the EU General Data Protection Regulation. But if it wasn’t compliant with data protection
I would be very surprised if it is legal under GDPR.”
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The system can also be used to manage crowds or detect overcrowding and to detect anti-social behaviour or criminal behaviour or to prevent them escalating.
It will also alert operators if someone is deemed to be loitering in a specified area for longer than expected, such as parks or schools.
Those tasked with using the system will be trained in incident management and data protection as well as use of the software itself, and only those authorised to operate Suspect Search will be permitted to use it.
A spokesman for Community Safety Glasgow said: “There is no confirmed date as to when the suspect search software will be put into operation because it is still going through the normal legal and approval process.
“Once approved, the system will only be operated by vetted staff and will aid operators in speeding up the process in looking for a missing child, for example, in the city.”
“Suspect Search software allows operators to use a variety of other information to search camera feeds – so, for example, they may know they are looking for a female child of a certain age and height, wearing clothing of a particular colour and type, wearing a hat, carrying a bag etc.”
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