Amnesty International calls for ban on facial recognition

Amnesty International has called for a ban on facial recognition technology that Dutch police officers use to identify protesters. In addition, there should be clear rules for the use of police cameras at protests.
From drones to video surveillance vehicles and body-cams: the Dutch National Police uses a range of digital tools to monitor peaceful demonstrators. Prior to demonstrations, it remains unclear what means and what images police officers use to oversee protestors.
These practices violate the protestors’ right to privacy. It can also have discriminatory effects and deter demonstrators from raising their voice in public protest, which is in violation of human rights.
“Amnesty has been concerned for some time about the government’s culture of control and risk-taking during demonstrations. Let us not forget that demonstrating is a right and not a privilege. We want a ban on facial recognition technology when it comes to identification and clear rules for police cameras during protests,” Dagmar Oudshoorn, Director of Amnesty International in the Netherlands, says in a statement.
“The rules on what the police may and may not do in the Netherlands are not clear enough. This can be abused and there is a risk of arbitrariness,” she adds.
Amnesty International’s conclusions are based on an analysis of the rules and practices observed in demonstrations between 2022 and 2024. The human rights group also interviewed police officers and spoke to protestors from all kinds of movements, including climate protests, pro-Palestine protests and demonstrations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Dutch police have stated multiple times that they do not use facial recognition technology in real-time, but the cameras on video surveillance cars provide the technology to do so: they come with a ‘face capture’ deep learning function. Thus the authorities say that although they have the capacity, they don’t use it. The Ministry of Justice is currently considering in which cases and under what conditions there might be a need for the use of real-time facial recognition technology,” Amnesty’s report ‘Recording Dissident, Camera Surveillance at Peaceful Protests in the Netherlands’ states.
Using facial recognition technology to identify people is unacceptable to Amnesty International. The organization considers any use of this technology a violation of human rights.
It therefore recommends to regulate the use of camera surveillance by law, ban facial recognition technology, and ensure public accountability and transparency. The Dutch National Police should establish clear policies on the use of cameras and refrain from using biometric technologies.
Lastly, the Dutch data protection authority (DPA) should provide guidelines on data processing in the context of protests and investigate the processing of personal data of peaceful protesters in police databases and systems.
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