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New Laws Governing Biometric Tech “Urgently Needed”
Technology that uses biometric data is in dire need of a legal update, according to an independent legal review led by Matthew Ryder QC.
Technology that uses data from peoples faces, fingerprints, voices, DNA profiles, and other measurements related to the body are becoming more common place, with the law and regulation around the tech failing to keep apace with its proliferation.
While previously used almost exclusively in policing, biometric technologies are now used by a growing number of private and public organisations, including employers, schools and shops.
This is alongside the rise of more specific biometric tech that measures distinctive features of how people walk, or key-stroke analysis, based on how people type.
In a separate paper, the Ada Lovelace Institute, which commissioned the review, said that better laws and regulation should be used to place much greater scrutiny on biometric tech before deployment.
In a comment given to the BBC, an institute spokesperson said that regulators were only taking action after the fact. “We can think of this a regulatory ‘whack-a-mole’, which we are arguing is inadequate”, the spokesperson said.
Matthew Ryder QC, who wrote the review said: “The current legal regime is fragmented, confused and failing to keep pace with technological advances.
‘We urgently need an ambitious new legislative framework specific to biometrics.
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“We must not allow the use of biometric data to proliferate under inadequate laws and insufficient regulation.”
The institute is now calling for changes including:
- comprehensive legislation governing the use of biometric technologies.
- oversight by a national, independent and properly resourced regulatory body.
- a requirement for technology to meet standards of accuracy, reliability and validity and proportionality.
- a moratorium on systems capable of mass identification or classification in the public sector until legislation is passed.
The review said a legally binding police code of practice governing live facial recognition use was needed.
Lady Hamwee, who chairs the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, commented on the review, saying: “The current uncoordinated and confusing arrangements are inadequate.
“Biometric technologies have huge potential.
“They need an essential component – public trust and confidence, which in turn needs sound regulation.”
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