Watchdog to review Police Scotland's use of biometric data
Watchdog says there is need to be careful about ‘future encroachment’
Scotland’s biometrics commissioner is to review the way Police Scotland collects and uses fingerprints, voice recordings and other smart device data, pointing out that the use of such biometrics alongside the advent of artificial intelligence raises “important questions” over how to balance public safety against broad privacy and ethical concerns.
The watchdog said there was a need to be careful about the extent of what it described as “future encroachment,” and noted that the way in which such data is stored and exchanged has changed significantly, with an “exponential growth” in the range of new biometrics.
The commissioner, Dr Brian Plastow, will also look at the way Police Scotland’s officers and staff collect use data that is gathered from body worn cameras, a technology that has been the subject of concerns over its effectiveness and data privacy.
Dr Plastow said the work would help promote public awareness of the use of biometrics in policing, with the first review, set to be published next spring, focusing on the acquisition, retention, use, and destruction of fingerprints for criminal justice and policing purposes.
It forms part of a four-stage assurance review framework that will form the bulk of his work over the next four years.
Launching his strategic plan for 2025 to 2029, Dr Plastow said: “Biometric data such as fingerprints and photographs have been used in policing and criminal justice in Scotland as a means of verification, identification and exclusion for more than one hundred years.
“In the last decade there has been an exponential growth in the range of new biometrics, and a proliferation of databases operating and exchanging biometric data, including the application of artificial intelligence to develop algorithms for biometric matching.
“These issues raise important questions for society, including how best to balance our need for public safety and security with broader privacy, ethical, human rights, and equality considerations.”
The assurance reviews set out by Dr Plastow include a review of the policy and practice in relation to images and voice data obtained by Police Scotland from electronic devices including phones, computers and smart watches, and the retrieval and analysis of audio, video and photographs from crime scenes or postmortems.
He said the principles of proportionality and necessity, as well as the long-established principle of policing by consent in Scotland, indicated a need to be “careful” about the extent of what he described as “future encroachment.”
He added: “The areas in which we propose to conduct our thematic assurance reviews are linked to our duty to support and promote, and take cognisance of areas of risk with a preventative focus.
“With our strategic plan we aim to deliver measurable outcomes that support public safety, protect individual rights, and uphold the integrity of biometric practices across Scotland.”
Police Scotland’s Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said: “As a rights and values-based organisation, we are committed to ensuring our retention and use of biometric data is lawful, effective, proportionate and ethical in a policing context. We welcome the scrutiny and our ongoing engagement with the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner and the code of practice, to support our positive duty to use the technologies available to us to keep people safe.”
Last month the commissioner published a review of his organisation’s code of practice, which noted a number of significant events that played a part in the creation of the post.
It included the Scottish fingerprint inquiry, which was set up by the Scottish Government in 2009 in the wake of the high-profile Shirley McKie court case, which led to the detective being charged and later acquitted of perjury.