Swedish Police Want to Fight Crime with Live Facial Recognition

The Swedish police want to use facial recognition in real time to crack down on serious crimes.

Government investigators have already drafted a bill that will make it possible to use the technology. The regulation, however, still needs to be completed before it can be tabled, National Police Chief Petra Lundh told publicly funded radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio last week.

Lundh also noted that the legislation must comply with the EU AI Act and could potentially be temporary until crime rates settle down.

Sweden has been experiencing a flood of gang-related attacks, including firearms and explosives, leading the Scandinavian country to crown itself with the title of highest per capita gun violence rate in the European Union. Police Chief Lundh believes law enforcement agencies could use cameras to find suspects.

“It is not unusual that we have a picture of the likely perpetrator, but then we cannot find him or her,” Lundh says.

The suggestion has already been met with criticism. The technology could make incorrect matches for people with dark skin leading to perceptions that the AI is racist, says lawyer Kristofer Stahre.

“I am worried about what consequences it may have for the Swedish people,” he says.

The Swedish government has been working on expanding the use of biometric data in policing on other fronts.

In September, the Swedish Legislative Council announced it does not object to a government proposal to expand police access to DNA and biometric databases for investigating serious crimes. The proposal was submitted to the Council in July and includes a wider collection of biometric data during investigations, introducing new biometric registries and matching with the Migration Agency’s fingerprint and facial photo registry. The new regulation also allows for the use of DNA-based genealogy during investigations of murder and aggravated rapes.

The police noted that it has already successfully used biometric databases to solve a 24-year-old cold case involving a child sexual assault by matching DNA samples.

The next legislative step for the proposal is the Swedish Parliament. If the Parliament approves the amendment, it will enter into force on July 1st, 2025.

Source: Biometric Update

Masha Borak is a technology journalist. Her work has appeared in Wired, Business Insider, Rest of World, and other media outlets. Previously she reported for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Reach out to her at [email protected].

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