Update 18 August 2020 the judgment was overturned upon appeal and a breach of Article 8 ECHR found: [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 Bridges, R (On the Application Of) v South Wales Police. reviewed here.
Update 17 January 2020 the European Commission reportedly has a different view and is preparing a proposal to ban this use temporarily.
‘The algorithms of the law must keep pace with new and emerging technologies’ is the opening sentence of Hadon-Cave LJ and Swift J in R v The Chief Constable of South Wales Police and others [2019] EWHC 2341.
The central issue is whether the current legal regime in the United Kingdom is adequate to ensure the appropriate and non-arbitrary use of AFR (automated face recognition) in a free and civilized society. The High Court finds it is. No doubt appeal will follow. I leave the assessment of the findings (discussing in particular Article 8 ECHR: right to respect for one’s private and family life, one’s home and one’s correspondence) of the Court to others. It is the opening sentence which drew my attention as, inevitably, it did others’. It is a sentence upon which one can hinge en entire regulatory /new technologies course. Must the algorithms of the law (whatever these may be) keep pace with technology? Or rather, guard against the challenges of same?
Discuss.
Geert.
gavc law - geert van calster 