Facial recognition technology (FRT) is an artificial intelligence system that works as a tool for law enforcement in Slovenia and around the world. As a technological novelty with a significant impact on human rights, it represents a challenge to the law. The aim of this thesis is to answer whether the Slovenian legislation is in line with the FRT development and its capabilities, and whether the evidence obtained by FRT is admissible in the Slovenian criminal procedure.
FRT has in the past 60 years of development advanced from requiring guiding human input of dimension and coordinates of faces, to its (almost) complete independence in automatically processing a picture without added manual input. This resulted in removing human errors and perfecting accuracy in facial recognition including great aptitude of problem solving such as different size, obscure incline or orientation of faces on pictures.
Most governments at least consider applying its technology in collecting evidence in law enforcement. It must be noted, however, that FRT impacts several human rights; such as the right to privacy, personal data protection, human dignity and the freedom of assembly. Therefore, its use must be strictly regulated, including in investigation and prosecution of criminal offences. For example, in Slovenia the police department is permitted to use automated comparisons of facial photographs with live FRT excluded. When considering the admissibility of evidence obtained by FRT in Slovenian criminal procedures, the right to challenge the credibility of such evidence, the (un)reliability of the technology, and the possible human rights violations must be taken into account. However, legal provisions of the Police Tasks and Power Act, that stipulate the automated comparison of facial images, do not comprehensively regulate steps of the program in regards to respect for personal data. Nevertheless, this does not preclude the admissibility of evidence obtained by FRT.
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