JUSTICE Secretary Michael Matheson has warned that Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrats are blowing fears about facial recognition software “out of proportion”.
The minister was responding to questions in the Scottish Parliament about Police Scotland’s use of the controversial technology.
Pictures of people charged with an offence in Scotland are being uploaded to a UK-wide central database used by all police forces. It is used primarily as a way of identifying suspects caught on CCTV.
Police Scotland have confirmed that people’s pictures are “weeded” out if they are not convicted. That this was happening, seemingly without the knowledge of Government or the Scottish Police Authority, was another example of the force’s lack of accountability, said Labour legal affairs spokeswoman Elaine Murray.
Matheson said: “I think it’s important that we keep a level perspective around these matters. Trying to wrap this into armed police officers and stop and search again is just blowing it all out of proportion.
“I believe that there are areas where the Scottish Police Authority can improve the way that it is operating. The chief inspector of constabulary has already looked at that; there is an action plan in place in order to improve these areas as well.
“So, I think it is important that we recognise that although there will be issues that have to be addressed at various times on how policing is taken forward and how the SPA is operating, I think to try and just roll this all into ‘everything is just bad’ doesn’t help anyone and take any of these issues forward.”
LibDem justice spokeswoman Alison McInnes said: “Without adequate legal safeguards, there is nothing to stop the police from using this technology for mass surveillance.
“I also have real concerns that the privacy of innocent people could be compromised and they could be exposed to the risk of false identification.
Detective Chief Inspector Russell Penman of Police Scotland said: “Facial search is an intelligence tool that can be used for intelligence development purposes.
“It is not used for formal photographic identification procedures, although it does provide intelligence around the suspected identity of an individual whose image has been taken and searched.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here