The European Parliament has called on law enforcement agencies to limit—and in some cases forbid—the use of artificial intelligence and facial-recognition software for mass surveillance.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) passed the resolution—”Artificial intelligence in criminal law and its use by the police and judicial authorities in criminal matters”—on Oct. 6 with a final tally of 377 votes in favor of the resolution and 248 votes against it, with 62 abstentions.
MEPs were particularly concerned about AI-based facial-recognition tools. The European Parliament says they “misidentify minority ethnic groups, LGBTI people, seniors and women at higher rates, which is particularly concerning in the context of law enforcement and the judiciary.”
This is a known problem with facial-recognition software—it has led to wrongful arrests, can sometimes be confused by face masks, and is powered by AI that can have unintended biases. Even companies such as Microsoft, Google, and IBM have expressed concerns about the tech.
“To ensure that fundamental rights are upheld when using these technologies, algorithms should be transparent, traceable, and sufficiently documented,” the European Parliament says. “Where possible, public authorities should use open-source software in order to be more transparent.”
The European Parliament says that it also wants to forbid the use of private facial-recognition databases, “predictive policing based on behavioral data,” and social scoring systems that “try to rate the trustworthiness of citizens based on their behavior or personality.”
The resolution also targets mass surveillance that uses biometric data, including facial recognition, in public locations. “To respect privacy and human dignity,” the European Parliament says, “MEPs ask for a permanent ban on the automated recognition of individuals in public spaces, noting that citizens should only be monitored when suspected of a crime.”
These issues have started to be addressed in the US, too, with voters in Portland, Oregon, and Maine banning government use of facial-recognition technology in 2020. Individual companies, including Amazon, have also stopped offering the technology to law enforcement organizations, amid public backlash.
There hasn’t been a comprehensive solution to these problems, however, and some companies have continued to offer facial-recognition technology to government agencies and law enforcement organizations, despite pushback. Perhaps the European Parliament’s resolution will offer some guidance to the US and other countries moving forward.
