Amnesty calls for a ban on facial recognition to identify demonstrators

The Dutch branch of Amnesty International is calling for a ban on facial recognition technology to identify demonstrators. The group also wants clearer rules for the police regarding the use of cameras at protests.

According to the human rights group, it is not clear enough at the moment what the police are and are not allowed to do. “This can be misused and there is a risk of arbitrariness,” said Amnesty Netherlands director Dagmar Oudshoorn.

The group’s staff saw several shows in the Netherlands between 2022 and 2024 and published a report on this. According to Amnesty, the police do not explain to organizers, demonstrators and the public why there is a camera search. Activists tell Amnesty they fear access to police databases. Facial recognition can be used to identify people, but Amnesty believes this violates human rights.

Camera drones have been used at demonstrations against corona regulations, among other things, but body cameras and surveillance vehicles with large cameras on top are also regularly used at large demonstrations.

In response, the police say they want to talk to Amnesty about the findings of their investigation. “Police do not use cameras at all at most demonstrations,” a spokesman said. “A fair assessment will be made based on, among other things, the size and complexity of a demonstration and the risk of disruption.”

The police confirm that facial recognition is used, but it is not real time carried out. According to the police, it is therefore not true that someone has been recognized live at a show with the technology.

“In certain cases, in the case of crimes, it can be determined afterwards if the police already know a suspect. For this purpose, we can use pictures of people who have been convicted and arrested on suspicion of a crime that carries a minimum prison sentence of four years.”

In July, Amnesty International sounded the alarm about the exercise of the right to demonstrate in Europe. In one relationship the human rights group reported that people who demonstrate peacefully are increasingly stigmatized, criminalized and treated harshly.

That report also raised concerns about the growing use of “intrusive surveillance technology” that tracks people, analyzes their activities and stores their data.