Media scientist Miriam Meckel and criminal lawyer Monika Simmler are together researching the jurisprudential and social aspects of automated facial recognition. According to a press release from the University of St.Gallen (HSG), the research projects aim to guarantee the legal certainty of citizens as well as providing the police and judicial authorities with a legal basis for using the new technologies.
According to the researchers’ analysis, legislation is still lagging behind when it comes to the advance of modern electronic sciences. For instance, the Swiss Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC) does not have a legal article on using facial recognition technology (FRT) in public spaces. According to the press release, there are also social questions left unanswered, such as how much monitoring society is willing to accept in the name of security.
Bans of FRT in public spaces are being discussed in some communities, such as Basel, Lausanne, St.Gallen, and Zurich. The HSG research aims to find not only a legal but also a societal consensus for the use of new technologies that will be developing rapidly over the years to come. ww
