Government to publish draft law on facial recognition technology

The Government has agreed to publish its draft law on facial recognition technology (FRT), which will be used for offences including violent disorder which was added in the wake of the Dublin riots.

The Minister for Justice has said the aim of the Bill is to help gardai “trawl” through thousands of hours of CCTV when investigating serious crimes.

Groups such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties have raised concern about how FRT could be used by authorities, particularly around whether it is used without warranted suspicion.

The Green Party had also raised concerns about making FRT available to gardai, which was addressed earlier this year when standalone legislation was proposed to regulate the area.

In the wake of the Dublin riots, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said riot and violent disorder would be included in the list of offences that the technology could be used for and said it would only be used “retrospectively”.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said there had been “huge distortion” over the issue, and that FRT would only be used for the “retrospective investigation” of serious crimes which involves analysing CCTV or other images.

On Thursday, Ms McEntee said she had received Cabinet approval to publish the General Scheme of the Garda Siochana (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2023.

“There has been an explosion in the use of digital data in criminal investigations, and that without adequate data analysis tools, the length of criminal investigations will increase,” she said.

“We are already seeing gardai having to trawl through thousands of hours of CCTV – 12,000 hours in the case of the Dublin riots.

“Facial recognition technology will dramatically save time, speed up investigations and free up Garda resources for the high-visibility policing we all want to see.

“Reducing the amount of time it takes gardai to go through video footage will be of particular help where time is of the essence following a very serious crime being committed. It is in the interests of all parties, not least victims of crime, to have criminal investigations pursued as effectively and rapidly as possible.

“The General Scheme is intended to provide for the use of biometric identification, using facial images, by An Garda Siochana for an exhaustive list of the most serious of offences.

“It will only provide for a limited form of retrospective use of biometric identification which can assist An Garda Siochana when they are searching CCTV footage and data.”

Ms McEntee is to ask the Oireachtas Justice Committee to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill and to consider an additional list of serious offences for possible inclusion.

The draft Bill is to provide for the “retrospective” searching of images which are legally in the possession of gardai, through the “safe and ethical use” of biometric identification.

This will only take place where a serious offence is suspected; where the use of biometric identification is necessary and proportionate; and where the use of biometric identification is authorised in writing in advance by a chief superintendent and a record is kept.

The department said that the Bill also provides “safeguards and oversight” of the new powers granted to gardai, and noted that the new legislation would be drafted “fully in line” with EU law.

Separate legislation underpinning the introduction of body-worn cameras for gardai, The Garda Siochana (Recording Devices) Act 2023, was signed into law on December 5.

The draft FRT Bill will also amend this new law “to give effect to the Government decision to provide that biometric identification may be used by An Garda Siochana”, a statement from the Department of Justice said.

“Under the Data Protection Act 2018, it is not possible for An Garda Siochana to process biometric data without a clear statutory basis,” it said.

“The power to utilise biometric identification using facial images (often referred to as facial recognition technology) needs to be explicitly provided for and is set out in this General Scheme.”

The rollout of bodycams is due to start in Dublin city centre from next spring.

Ms McEntee told the Dail on Tuesday night that pilots will take place next year for both body-worn cameras and facial recognition technology.

“(Body-worn camera) technology is important for the gardai to protect themselves, to record scenes accurately and, when they are at the scene of a crime, to record what happens immediately afterwards,” she said.

“If they are in the midst of an incident such as the riots we saw two weeks ago, they would be able to accurately reflect through the cameras what is happening.

“Just as there will be pilots for the body-worn cameras, we need to make sure any application of FRT is done in such a way that we can see how effective it is and whether any changes need to be made. That would include a pilot scheme as well. All of this is moving.

“It is positive and shows how technology, when monitored and put in place effectively, can support gardai in their work and make sure they are as effective as possible in responding to crime.”