How that will be carried out and who will have responsibility will be critical issues. The ‘who’ is important, because how do we ensure that those chosen to monitor an industry are truly independent.
I ask as at the weekend it came to light that the former watchdog, the man in charge of monitoring facial recognition technology, had joined Facewatch the private company he had approved, despite areas of concern, helping to pave the roll out of biometric surveillance cameras in the UK.
Professor Fraser Sampson joined the company within 24 hours of leaving his post as biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner and campaigners have suggested that he could have been making decisions about the company while in post and in so doing he could have “compromised his work in public office.”
Biometric facial recognition is a controversial technology and at present there is no specific law that regulates it, so it’s vital that those tasked with scrutinising its use are truly independent. Trust in the commissioner, the institution and its decisions are critical.
Sampson may have not done anything wrong, and he says that he informed the Home Office in good time, but it certainly doesn’t look great especially when it involves a technology that can have a profound impact on privacy and human rights.
