Somebody’s Watching You

Face value

atest press release from Cllr Stephen Stokes, issued on Thursday, November 30th 2023…

Cllr Stephen Stokes has expressed concern about the proposal to introduce facial recognition technology legislation.

Cllr Stokes has written to the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, and the Green Party Leader, Eamon Ryan to raise a number of specific concerns.

Cllr Stokes stated: “There are many problems with this technology ranging from privacy consent, to the risk of misuse, such as individuals exploiting it for personal use. Like with many systems, there can be flaws. In this case there is a significant risk of misidentifying people. Earlier this year the Guardian ran a story that highlighted the poor accuracy in relation to people who are black, female and between the ages of 18 to 30.”

The Green Party previously resisted handing facial recognition technology to Gardaí, but they are under increasing pressure from cabinet colleagues. Cllr Stephen Stokes has written to Eamon Ryan urging him to stay strong against the encroachment of civil liberties. Cllr Stokes stated: “Facial recognition technology is used for mass surveillance in China. This would be a major milestone against civil rights. Additionally if the Irish Government introduces this surveillance, it gives a green light to other countries to follow suit. They can point to Ireland as an example of allowing this type of snooping.”

Instead Cllr Stephen Stokes is urging the Government to focus on Garda staffing. Cllr Stokes remarked: “The Government wants to be seen to be doing something about the Dublin riots on November 23rd. I condemn the perpetrators of the riots and looting. However, from the videos and pictures that I saw, they seem to be well covered by masks and hoods.

“This would largely render facial recognition technology useless in this situation. What we really need is more police. The Irish people have been failed badly in this regard. The Government has allowed the Garda numbers to run right down. While I accept that Covid disrupted recruitment, this has been going on for many years. We also need to focus on Garda retention. If people can find better pay and conditions they are likely to look elsewhere.”

Cllr Stephen Stokes has highlighted the plight of an innocent man, Robert Williams. In 2020, Mr. Williams was wrongly arrested in Detroit, USA. Mr. Williams had been identified by grainy cctv, combined with AI technology. Cllr Stokes noted: “This type of surveillance is recipe for mistakes. It should be stopped.”

A wide range of people and organisations have urged that facial recognition technology be halted, including the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

Cllr Stephen Stokes concluded: “It’s no surprise that the European Union has sought to ban mass surveillance. Facial recognition technology is a threat to freedom and civil rights.”