Counterterrorism: AI and Facial Recognition

Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the current legal architecture permits the appropriate use of AI and live facial recognition for counterterrorism purposes.

The current legal architecture allows effective use of these technologies, but the Government continue to keep legislation under regular review as threats evolve. The Government are investing a record £141 million in AI technology and automation, including over £11 million on 40 new live facial recognition units. The police reform Bill will complement this by introducing clearer rules and independent oversight for facial recognition, ensuring that its use remains lawful, proportionate and responsible.

I thank my noble friend for his Answer. The Home Office consultation was a welcome recognition of the gaps in the current statutory framework in this area. I welcome the notion that there will be a development of legislation, particularly the police reform Bill, which covers these important technologies. On the proposed legislation, will there be support for behavioural analytics in relation to counterterrorism? I ask because that is a very important tool.

I am grateful to my noble and learned friend for his question. What we are trying to do in the police reform Bill is respond to the consultation he has mentioned, which closed a few weeks back. We are currently analysing the responses to that consultation, and the intention is to put in place a legal framework that covers all aspects of facial recognition technology, so that there is proper governance, proper accountability, and a clear understanding of what, where and how facial recognition technology can be used. I will ensure that when the Bill is brought forward, my noble and learned friend has an opportunity to reflect on the points that he has made today.

My Lords, while I welcome the Government’s approach to this, with the postponement of the EU-UK summit, which was to discuss security issues, from 22 July to another date, I am all the more concerned that the re-establishment of our links to SIS II, the information system which gives real-time information on movements of terrorists around Europe, will now be put off as well. I wonder whether the Minister will update us on what we are doing to try to get ourselves back into what is undoubtedly the best means of dealing with terrorists.

The noble Lord knows my clear view on this matter: we have to have a very constructive relationship with Europe; the things that we lost due to the Brexit withdrawal need to be examined in detail on the criminal justice front; it is in Europe’s and United Kingdom’s interests to have better access and understanding of who goes where, when and why; and it is the objective of the Government to try to help the European Union and to receive benefits. The summit that was planned for July has been postponed for reasons that are self-evident—because of a change of Prime Minister—but the objective of the Government remains the same.

My Lords, artificial intelligence chatbots are already engaged in skilfully targeted radicalisation. They may even be used in attack planning, as in the case of the Windsor Castle crossbow attacker, who was thwarted, fortunately, in his ambition to kill Her late Majesty but was assisted and encouraged throughout by his online “girlfriend”, Sarai. The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation has suggested that we may need laws against the creation and deployment of computer programs that can be used for such malign purposes. Could the Minister update us as to what the Government are going to do about it?

I am grateful as always for the expertise that the noble Lord brings to this issue. The independent reviewer did indeed consider, in his annual report, the impact of generative AI on terrorism-related activity. The report concluded that, where AI is intended to be used for terrorist purposes, existing terrorism legislation generally provides sufficient coverage. Nevertheless, we are continuing to look at that. It is an important issue. As the noble Lord knows from our long discussions in the last few days, we have a security Bill and a police reform Bill coming up. We keep those matters under review and, obviously, it is a very fast-moving situation. We need to be ahead of the game for the reasons the noble Lord has mentioned.

My Lords, the Government have committed substantial resources to live facial recognition technology, but, at present, the police authorisation makes no distinction between the technology being deployed on the high street and for counterterrorism purposes. Will the Minister confirm that the forthcoming framework will establish a distinct statutory authorisation regime for counterterrorism purposes so that we are not leaving both of them to inadequate police superintendent authorisation, as we are at the moment?

The noble Baroness makes a valid point about the difference between terrorism and what I will term other crime. As she knows, facial recognition technology is sometimes used for things such as identifying missing persons who have not been involved in crime at all. There needs to be a clear framework for this. As she knows, the consultation paper raised a number of questions. We are trying to resolve and respond to those and to look at the great analysis that we had in responses. We will bring forward proposals, which she will have an opportunity to test when we bring forward the police reform Bill.

My Lords, it has been reported that the newly created PoliceAI centre will roll out large-scale pilots in up to 10 police forces to help officers triage, disclose and summarise digital evidence. Can the Minister inform your Lordships’ House as to what impact the police reform Bill, and specifically the proposed mergers of police forces, will have on these plans for a more enhanced role for AI in policing?

At the moment, as the noble Lord knows, the Government’s policy objective is to reduce the number of police forces. We have asked the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, to look at that. Ministers have not yet had his final report with his proposals for the size of police forces. In the police reform Bill, we are trying to establish national responsibilities on crime, counterterrorism, training, and procurement. As part of our consultation, we are looking at what we need to do on a framework for facial recognition technology. As the noble Lord rightly said, we have put in £140 million, including £11 million on 40 new live facial recognition units, and we have looked at retrospective facial recognition. We are trying, in a very long-term plan, to get national capability, better resource and better efficiency for taxpayers, while at the same time recognising, as I know he does, that facial recognition is an extremely important tool for identifying known criminals, people who have broken licence terms and people who are missing, and for intelligence-led policing that can ensure that we know exactly who we are looking for and why.

My Lords, this is clearly a very useful technology, but given that it has very wide application, can my noble friend say anything about how we monitor the level of possible misrecognition by these systems?

That is an absolutely vital point, as it is with many forms of technology. The old identity parade misidentified some people. ANPR—number plate recognition—occasionally looks at information that does not identify the right number plate. This is technology that is used to support the police. I reassure my noble friend that at the end of it there is always a set of human eyes. Humans determine whether to put a case to the CPS for prosecution and whether the information is correct. But AI, including AI used for facial recognition, means that we are saving the police hours, to the extent that we can potentially deploy an extra 3,000 police officer hours for other purposes. That is because AI can sift out, examine, look at characteristics and determine one, five or even 10 suspects who we might need to have further eyes on. It is important to look at the developments. Ultimately, it is under operational police and political control.