1 February 2023
ICCL has written to the Minister for Justice this week outlining its concerns ahead of Dáil debate today
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is deeply concerned about some elements of the proposed Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022 and how the Bill’s passage through the Oireachtas is being managed.
The Bill is part of a wider programme of reform of An Garda Síochána, which ICCL welcomes and supports. However, the Bill will also significantly expand the surveillance powers of An Garda Síochána, including covert surveillance, and ICCL is concerned that these changes are not subject to sufficient scrutiny because the Bill is being rushed through the Oireachtas.
Amongst other things, the Bill provides for body-worn cameras for members of An Garda Síochána, expanded CCTV use and access to third-party CCTV and drones, and secret tracking of vehicles through Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). The Bill will also ultimately provide for highly controversial Facial Recognition Technology, although the details of how this technology will be deployed have not yet been published, despite the Bill being due for Second Stage debate in the Dáil today.
Doireann Ansbro, ICCL Head of Legal and Policy, explained:
“Some of the most intrusive measures proposed in this Bill – the use of Facial Recognition Technology and the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition to secretly track vehicles – were not in the General Scheme of the Bill and therefore not subjected to pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas Justice Committee.”
Doireann Ansbro, ICCL Head of Legal and Policy
“FRT poses risks to privacy and data protection, and has been shown to be inaccurate and discriminatory in other jurisdictions. It has been banned elsewhere and is being discussed at EU level. We can’t understand why Government is rushing to introduce it, and we are still in the dark as to how it will be used and overseen in the Irish context.
“When it comes to the introduction of surveillance technologies that would have a very real impact on people’s privacy and data protection rights, it is essential that these provisions are subject to detailed and careful scrutiny in the Oireachtas. Additional surveillance measures must only be introduced where there is a demonstrated need, demonstrated effectiveness and robust safeguards are in place.”
An Garda Síochána has previously been criticised by the Data Protection Commission for not properly applying data protection law with regard to existing surveillance technologies. ICCL believes that these structural problems must be addressed before any consideration be given to deploying powerful new surveillance technologies.
The Bill must also be fully in line with the EU’s Law Enforcement Directive and Ireland’s Data Protection Act, 2018. The lack of effective safeguards and the high degree of discretion left to as-yet-unwritten Codes of Practice means there is a real risk that the Bill is not in line with EU law.
ICCL has written to the Minister for Justice and TDs this week outlining its concerns about the Bill. Doireann Ansbro concluded:
“We understand that the Minister for Justice may feel an impulse to quickly roll out this law. However, there are significant issues of human rights law and EU law at stake and so we are calling on him not to rush this legislation through the Oireachtas and instead to ensure there is robust debate about these intrusive measures.”
Ends/
Available for comment: Doireann Ansbro, ICCL Head of Legal and Policy
For media queries: ruth.mccourt@iccl.ie / 087 415 7162
Documents
Letter from ICCL to Minister for Justice, 30 January 2023 (PDF)
FRT
ICCL believes that FRT has no place in Irish policing because:
- ICCL believes that FRT presents a deeply flawed but powerful and overreaching generalised surveillance technology that is beset by issues of privacy, bias, accuracy, transparency and fairness;
- FRT could allow for disproportionate mass surveillance;
- There is no evidence to demonstrate the usefulness of FRT for policing;
- Such use may run afoul of pending EU law (the AI Act) and Ireland risks having to unpick a domestic law after an EU law is passed, incurring significant and unnecessary cost;
- An Garda Síochána has previously been criticised by the Data Protection Commission for not properly applying data protection law with regard to existing surveillance technologies. ICCL believes that these structural problems must be addressed before any consideration be given to deploying powerful new surveillance technologies.
ICCL has had extensive correspondence and meetings with the Minister for Justice and Department of Justice officials about the inclusion of FRT in this Bill. There has also been commentary by the Garda Commissioner in the media about the introduction of FRT which is at odds with what ICCL has been told by the Department of Justice. Despite numerous requests, we have not received clear and detailed information on how it is proposed FRT would be introduced.
ANPR
ANPR cameras indiscriminately scan the number plates of every car which passes by. The current use of ANPR by Gardaí is opaque but media reports indicate that An Garda Síochána has invested heavily in the technology in recent years, spending almost €2 million on ANPR infrastructure in 2020 (600% more than 2019).
This Bill provides for Gardaí to carry out secret surveillance of certain vehicles, and therefore people, by monitoring their movements using ANPR. This is hugely intrusive and unacceptable in a Bill which is not supposed to be designed for covert surveillance.
ICCL is also concerned about the Bill’s lack of safeguards regarding the collection, retention, disclosure and searches of ANPR data.