Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1042376
maltatoday | TUESDAY • 23 OCTOBER 2018 13 BUDGET 2019 MATTHEW VELLA PLANS for a system of facial recognition CCTV in places like Paceville are set to be actioned in 2019 to address "ant-social behaviour" hotspots. The 'Safe City' concept trig- gered a privacy scare after the plans were flagged by a Malta- Today report and attracted the attention of the United Nations' High Commission for Human Rights special rapporteur on privacy. The facial recognition soft- ware is expected to be deployed in Paceville and Marsa, after data protection concerns are addressed with the Information and Data Protection Commis- sioner. Discussions will also take place on which entity will be manning the CCTV system, which may not necessarily involve the Mal- tese police force. The director of Safe City Malta, Joe Cuschieri, had to meet the Information and Data Protection Commissioner in 2017 to explain the plans for a Huawei-sponsored 'safe city' that can link up facial recogni- tion CCTV cameras to identity databases. MaltaToday had originally reported that government company Safe City Malta was preparing to issue an order for the technological equipment of high definition CCTVs and pre- pare a proof-of-concept for are- as like Paceville to be monitored by the advanced system. The system can recognise peo- ple as they enter an area moni- tored by the 'safe city' system, a concept that Chinese multina- tional Huawei is deploying in several cities worldwide and for which it is also seeking an EU opening. The UN's special rapporteur on privacy, Joseph Cannataci, has also held a meeting with Cuschieri, to flag serious pri- vacy concerns over the concept. Cuschieri had told MaltaTo- day that the technology could be used for "nationwide deploy- ment". Cuschieri later declared that while it was possible to install video surveillance technology with wide-scale biometric fa- cial recognition, the operation would have to be in line with da- ta protection and privacy laws. "For a proof-of-concept public CCTV operation to be put into practice, a stakeholder that will take the responsibility of carry- ing out video surveillance needs to be roped in to the project," Cuschieri said. Safe City Malta will act as the technology enabler, in collabo- ration with Huawei, but will not carry out video surveillance itself. Cuschieri said that the stake- holder that would carry out the surveillance is then obliged to carry out a Privacy Impact As- sessment, especially since public CCTV surveillance falls under the category of "high-risk data" because of lack of consent from data subjects and the potential mass accumulation of data. Under EU General Data Pro- tection Regulations, the data processor would have signifi- cant obligations at law, which must be satisfied before any data processing operation can start. That means that any surveil- lance must guarantee data pro- tection not just when the sys- tem is in operation, but also in its design as a concept. "Even on a proof-of-concept basis, the final solution design according to the approved re- quirements of the planned op- eration must tick all the boxes from a data protection and privacy standpoint," Cuschieri said. The coming months will see Safe City Malta commissioning the hardware and software, so that technical training at an en- gineering level can follow. But once the company ropes in a "stakeholder" to carry out the video surveillance "in a locality such as Paceville", the process would have to start once all data protection guidelines and regu- lations are met. "Malta is a technologically ad- vanced nation. This project is a key opportunity for Malta to showcase how state-of-the-art video surveillance can be put to good use while fully meeting privacy regulations and respect- ing human rights," Cuschieri said. Facial recognition CCTV for Paceville and Marsa by 2019 SAFE CITIES SPORT MASSIMO COSTA THE government plans to embark on a two-year pro- gramme which will see €600,000 being invested to- wards the re-building of open spaces and pitches across Malta and Gozo, which have fallen into a state of disrepair due to lack of maintenance. A total of 18 such facilities in 15 localities have been identified in this respect. In connection with corrup- tion in sport, an organisation for integrity in sport is go- ing to be set up, which will be working with the police, sports associations and other authorities. A ten-year national sport strategy will also be drawn up, which aims to improve the re- sults attained by Maltese ath- letes at an international level. In connection with the cul- tural sphere, as from next year, all secondary school stu- dents will be able to visit for free, together with two adults, historical sites and museums run by Heritage Malta. €600,000 to renew outdoor sport facilities