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Police departments, municipalities, and gated communities are using facial recognition and body cameras more often, but a University of California Davis researcher warns that these tools, which were made by private companies, raise the possibility of unchecked surveillance.
Elizabeth Joh, a professor of law at UC Davis, said that these tools raise concerns about a lack in balance between police officers who need tools to perform their duties and privacy rights for individuals. She is the author of a new article due to be published in Science.
Joh points out that these tools are used by private companies for millions of dollars and are therefore not subject to proper public scrutiny. She also recommends that legislation at both the state and national levels be developed to regulate such equipment.
"The corporate shadow of democratic policing: Technology firms can avoid accountability," is an article that appears in a special section of the journal.
She stated that "communities and individuals who are subject to these policing technology deserve transparency about their police use of these tools, including whether they have potential flaws and whether these tools are worthwhile at all." While companies have legitimate concerns about intellectual property, invocations can't be used as a shield against the public when police departments are their customers.
Joh observed that most forms of automation technology used in police are created by private companies. This raises concerns about the possibility of these companies becoming policymakers.
She said that the surveillance tools could be flawed, which could raise concerns about whether defendant rights were being violated.
She stated that "when it comes to new investigation methods used by police department, local communities may be worried that a proposed approach may having racially discriminatory effects, may be flawed or in execution or may just be unjustified given its costs balanced against limited public resources."
Joh predicts that the use of these tools will increase. It is therefore imperative to have oversight over their use in order for transparency and public accountability.
Joh stated in the article that recent nationally-recognized police incidents where cameras were used, like the death of George Floyd "were not calls to technological tools." "If anything, the national attention to police reminds us that policing is still a social institution."
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Elizabeth E. Joh is the corporate shadow in democratic police, Science (2021). Information from Science Elizabeth E. Joh: The corporate shadow and democratic policing (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abi9150
