Spanish Police To Begin Using Automated Facial Recognition Technology

Spain turning into a police state: Spanish police to use automated facial recognition technology soon

Roy Green 

Spanish police are treading dangerous ground in their bid to make their jobs easier and faster. They intend to use an automated facial recognition (AFR) technology dubbed the ABIS, or automatic biometric identification system, in their pursuit of criminals.

Never mind that they are threatening to engulf the basic rights of citizens in the process.

Never mind that many quarters have opposed the ABIS, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify suspects from a database that contains millions of images of crime suspects and detainees already on file in Spain. (Related: EU proposing legislation to restrict facial recognition tech and “high-risk” artificial intelligence applications.)

Never mind that a controversial case in the United States saw the wrongful arrest of a Michigan resident named Robert Williams based on a hit from an AFR software that turned out to be inefficient in identifying people of color.

Due to the flawed information that he was involved in the theft of five watches worth around $4,000, Williams was arrested in the driveway of his house in front of his wife and children and confined in a crowded jail for 30 hours.

No wonder Williams gained national attention when he pressed charges against his captors and the entire state police, who later admitted that their software was inaccurate.

The ABIS already contains over five million images, and those arrested after the system is activated will be added to the database.

Developed by the French military technology company Thales, ABIS uses an algorithm called Cogent. The program compares images stored in the database to those introduced by the police, such as those obtained from a security camera or closed-circuit television. It has been approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) in the United States.

To ward off allegations that the system intrudes on the lives of ordinary citizens and is prone to abuse, the Spanish police said they will not use it for surveillance and exclude images from civil database records, including those that can be accessed through official identity documents like the national identity document, driver’s license or passport.

The Spanish police added that they intend to share their data with other European Union (EU) member states under the Schengen Information System (SIS) to help in solving international crimes like human trafficking and terrorism.

“The Spanish ABIS system can connect with European databases, such as Eurodac, EU-Lisa or VIS, since the corresponding links are designed. It is not an isolated system, but rather it is interconnected with the countries of the European Union,” the Thales company explained.