Amnesty International calls for live facial recognition ban in Scotland

Amnesty International has urged the Scottish Government to intervene and ban live facial recognition (LFR) technology, warning that Police Scotland's plans to adopt it would effectively introduce "mass surveillance." In letters to Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, and the Justice Secretary, the human rights organisation argued that LFR is incompatible with Scotland's international human rights obligations.

Amnesty is concerned that the technology would enable the widespread, non-consensual monitoring and collection of biometric data at scale, which it views as a violation of the rights to privacy, non-discrimination, and peaceful assembly. The group highlighted that LFR has been shown globally to disproportionately affect marginalised communities, particularly Black and Brown people, and erode civic space. They called for an end to the deployment plans, urging authorities to work instead to ensure such technologies are never used in Scotland.

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