Facial Recognition in Brussels Airport (Stopped)
Deployment Purpose: Surveillance
| Summary |
|---|
| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | Unknown Technology 0006 |
|---|---|
| Institutions⠉ | Unknown Institution 0012 |
| Datasets | Live camera feeds |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Stopped |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (1 July 2019, Documented, ?, No description) End (20 September 2019, Documented, ?, No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | Belgian Data Protection Authority (GBA) |
|---|---|
| Managed by | Belgian Federal Police |
| Used by | Belgian Federal Police |
Location:
| City | Zaventem |
|---|---|
| Country⠉ | Belgium |
Description[ ]
Description[edit | ]
Il s’agit d’une information rapportée vendredi par De Standaard et confirmée par l’Organe de contrôle de l’information policière (COC).
Marc De Mesmaeker avait annoncé en juillet dernier dans le magazine Knack que des caméras à reconnaissance faciale automatique seraient mises en place à l’aéroport. Une modification législative pour ce faire n’était, selon lui, pas nécessaire.
Le COC voyait l’initiative d’un autre oeil et a ouvert une enquête. Entre-temps, l’organe de contrôle a ordonné que le projet soit provisoirement abandonné. «Et la police fédérale a confirmé que c’était le cas», a indiqué Frank Schuermans, conseiller au COC. L’instance a établi que le projet contrevenait à la loi sur la fonction de police et celle sur la protection des données. «La surveillance par caméra reste possible, mais la reconnaissance faciale ne l’est pas», a précisé le conseiller.
La police fédérale a expliqué au journal flamand être déjà en train de se pencher sur l’avis du COC avec les partenaires impliqués dans le projet. La police ambitionne d’ailleurs toujours d’utiliser la reconnaissance faciale.2
Interruption of the Zavantem Pilot Project[edit | ]
As of February 2020, FR has not been implemented in Belgium in relation to criminal investigations. The principal reason for this is the legal restrictions that exist within the country. There is legislation in place that allows the police to use intelligent cameras for law enforcement purposes but, it is not permissible to keep track of the captured images (even for a few seconds). 3
After the Brussels terrorist bomb attacks in March 2016, a pilot project using FR was started at Brussels Airport but, concerns were expressed by the Belgian Data Protection Authority (GBA) about the legality of these activities and this led to the work being stopped. 3
Possible use of Clearview AI[edit | ]
The tests at Brussels Airport – as well as recent reporting on possible use by police officers of Clearview AI – shows that clear legal guidelines are needed. As the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) rightfully states in its recent guidelines on processing of personal data through video devices, the use of biometric data – facial recognition in particular – entails heightened risks for data subjects’ rights. Certainly, both police forces and citizens would benefit from legal clarity. It would appear from the Commission white paper on AI that the Commission shares this view, as they allude on further regulation of systems for facial recognition.4
References
- ^ "La police fédérale testait la reconnaissance faciale à l’aéroport de Zaventem: elle doit arrêter". (2019) <https://www.sudinfo.be/id142230/article/2019-09-20/la-police-federale-testait-la-reconnaissance-faciale-laeroport-de-zaventem-elle> Accessed: 2021-03-11
- a b "Summary Report of the project “Towards the European Level Exchange of Facial Images” (TELEFI)". (2021) <https://www.telefi-project.eu/sites/default/files/TELEFI_SummaryReport.pdf> Accessed: 2021-03-12
- ^ "Facial recognition at Brussels Airport: face down in the mud.". (2020) <https://www.law.kuleuven.be/citip/blog/facial-recognition-at-brussels-airport-face-down-in-the-mud/> Accessed: 2021-03-11