By Nessa Lynch & Andrew Chen

Embedded facial recognition capabilities are becoming more common across a wide range of technologies, so it’s important Police understand the parameters and potential consequences of the use of this kind of technology.

Dr Nessa Lynch (an Associate Professor at Victoria University of Wellington) and Dr Andrew Chen (a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland) are two of New Zealand’s leading experts and academic researchers in the field of facial recognition technology. Over a six-month period Dr Lynch and Dr Chen were commissioned to explore the current and possible future uses of facial recognition technology and what it means for policing in New Zealand communities

The scope of their work included:

• defining facial recognition technology

• categorising the spectrum of use and its potential effect on individual and collective rights and interests

• exploring what Police currently does in this space, and what planned and unused capability exists within the organisation

• providing insights and evidence into international practice and operational advantages for public safety and crime control, as well as Treaty of Waitangi, ethics, privacy and human rights implications

• producing a paper with advice and recommendations on the safe and appropriate use of facial recognition technology in New Zealand policing.

Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Police, 2021. 84p.

By Liz Campbell, Nessa Lynch, Joe Purshouse, Marcin Betkier

  The use of automated facial recognition technology (FRT) is becoming commonplace globally and in New Zealand. FRT involves the use of an algorithm to match a facial image to one already stored in a system, is used in automated passport control and other border control measures, as a biometric identifier in the banking, security and access contexts, and on social media platforms and various other consent-based applications

  This report contributes to the understanding of how and when this rapidly emerging hnology should be used and how it should be regulated. It is centred in what has been described as the ‘second wave’ of algorithmic accountability – While the first wave of algorithmic accountability focuses on improving existing systems, a second wave of research has asked whether they should be used at all—and, if so, who gets to govern them.3 This project seeks to address the regulation gap through ascertaining how FRT can and should be regulated in New Zealand. While the benefits that might be offered by FRT surveillance are increasingly observable, its effect on civil liberties is subtler, but certainly pernicious. Given the potential for FRT to be used as a key identity and access management tool in the future, there are pertinent questions around how images are being collected and stored now by the private sector. Where are these images being stored? Who has access to this data? What else might the images be used for? Without a detailed appraisal of the benefits of state FRT surveillance, and an understanding of the ethical issues raised by its use, any framework for the regulation of this activity cannot hope to engender public confidence that its use is fair and lawful.

Monash University, 2020. 118p.