Justice Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Official Report 660KB pdf

Justice Sub-Committee on Policing (Report Back)

Agenda item 2 is feedback from the meeting of the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing on 5 December 2019. I refer members to paper 4, which is a note from the clerk. Following the verbal report, there will be an opportunity for brief comments or questions. John Finnie will provide the feedback.

The sub-committee met on 5 December, when it held its second evidence session on its inquiry into the use of facial recognition technology by the police service in Scotland. The witnesses told the sub-committee that there is no specific legal basis for Police Scotland storing custody images and databases. Police Scotland currently accesses and matches images that are held in the United Kingdom police national database, which contains records of innocent people. The sub-committee heard that the practice could form the basis of a legal challenge. The witnesses said that, prior to introducing live facial recognition technology, Police Scotland needs to demonstrate that its use would meet human rights and data protection requirements and that there would be a clear legal framework.

The witnesses also raised serious concerns about the widely reported inaccuracy of the software and questioned whether the police service should invest in technology that is discriminatory and runs a high risk of misidentification. The witnesses felt that the challenges that are posed by facial recognition technology for policing should be a matter of priority for a Scottish biometrics commissioner.

The sub-committee agreed to write to the Scottish Police Authority on the Metropolitan Police Service’s peer review of Police Scotland’s anti-corruption unit’s investigation of the former Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

The sub-committee will next meet on 16 January 2020, when it will continue to take evidence on its facial recognition inquiry.

Thank you. That was a good report.

As there are no comments or questions from members, that concludes the public part of today’s meeting. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 7 January 2020, when we will continue our evidence taking on the Children (Scotland) Bill. I wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year.