Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1055420
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 NOVEMBER 2018 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Cuschieri said that advanced video surveillance can detect changes in the areas being monitored, such as a com- motion. From a control centre, law enforcement units will be able to have access to the surveillance, while field officers on the beat can be equipped with handheld HD devices that will be transmitted with instant images of problem areas. "A control centre will be monitoring the areas, but the system will be able to detect unexpected crowd densities or loitering in selected specific areas which is why we call them advanced: they can detect changes that instantly require police intervention." Cuschieri said that advance video surveillance can help law enforce- ment prevent crime by being first on the scene in cases where the system detects changes in the environment it monitors. "We are currently at plan- ning stage and we are formulating detailed plans for deployment for the fourth quarter of 2019." UN expert's view Critics of the invasive technology will breathe a sigh of relief after both the Prime Minister and the home af- fairs minister recently said facial rec- ognition CCTV would be deployed in 'problem areas' like Paceville and Marsa. But the United Nations' special rap- porteur on privacy, Prof. Joe Cannata- ci, had already told MaltaToday when news broke of Safe City Malta's plans with Huawei, that only a strong justi- fication – such as a risk of a terror at- tack – could justify such a technology in Malta. "That strong justification must be provided for by law," Cannataci said, having just returned from an official UN mission to Germany to examine CCTV systems being deployed by po- lice there. "Malta's laws, especially under EU regulations, mean that a privacy-in- trusive measure must be both 'neces- sary and proportionate in a democratic society' and even then, the law must provide adequate safeguards. In prac- tice this means that unless there is a real threat of a serious crime such as terrorism, one cannot introduce such a system in a place like Paceville where even there, most crimes are relatively minor or public order crimes with many, such as petty theft, occurring inside bars and clubs. "The occasional brawl spilling out onto the street or even stabbing may justify the limited use of some CCTV in public spaces, but not the type which is equipped with facial recognition. It must also be linked to other measures taken by the police intended to secure timely response to a specific type of in- cident," Cannataci said. In showing how premature calls made in the Budget speech for a facial recognition CCTV system were, the privacy expert also said that the mere notion needed a law on its own to give planners a proper basis to act. "Before even dreaming of introducing facial- recognition CCTV, you first need an ad hoc law which provides the proper legal basis. Even with a detailed law containing specific safeguards, such a system would normally have to be con- trolled by the police or an authority set up at law. The implications for privacy are so serious that, for example, the UK has a Commissioner dedicated ex- clusively to oversight of CCTV surveil- lance." Under the EU's Police Directive, which came into force on 6 May, any such CCTV tools can only be deployed by police or a responsible public au- thority authorised at law, with a law that guarantees safeguards before even starting any testing in a public space. "Even CCTV with lesser capabilities – that is without facial recognition capa- bility – but say, advanced CCTV which can detect the sound of a gunshot or violent language or movement, using a Pan-Tilt and Zoom (PTZ) camera to turn and focus on the origin of that sound; it would need to be properly au- thorised and have technical safeguards such as the ability to pixelate anything else unconnected to that sound," Can- nataci said. Indeed, Cannataci poured cold water over supporters of facial recognition CCTV being deployed in problem ar- eas like Paceville's entertainment area, or Marsa which hosts a large number of foreign communities and asylum seekers. "Even after satisfying the data protection commissioner and Parlia- ment that such a system is necessary, other factors – who will own the sys- tem, legal safeguards, technical safe- guards such as pixelation – have to be considered. All of them must be taken into account before gaining permis- sions to test the system, never mind deploying it." Controversial Chinese tech There is also a more serious concern about Huawei's plans in Malta, a gov- ernment source critical of the project told MaltaToday. "Huawei has been successful at de- veloping advanced facial recognition algorithms for Asian faces, which tend to be difficult to recognise in terms of reference points than other faces... they would be keen to test out their algorithm on European faces. The big question is what they would do with the data." Chinese technology has made spec- tacular inroads in both advanced sur- veillance technology, as well as in mar- shalling government contracts in Africa. ZTE, a Chinese telecoms giant, provides the infrastructure for the Ethiopian gov- ernment to monitor its citizens' com- munications. CloudWalk Technology, a Guangzhou-based start-up, signed a deal with the Zimbabwean government to provide a mass facial recognition pro- gram. The deal enables Zimbabwe, a country with a bleak record on human rights, to replicate parts of the surveil- lance infrastructure that have made freedoms so limited in China. By enabling this technology to rec- ognise black faces, CloudWalk could teach its advanced system to filter out racial biases. American intelligence agencies are suspicious of Chinese technology in- terests. In February 2018, heads of six agencies testified in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence against the use of Chinese telecom products such as those of Huawei and ZTE. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Intrusive technology can only be justified in serious cases