AFR Technology: Automating bias?

In brief

• R (Bridges) v CC South Wales: a warning to technology vendors of the potential risks of unlawful discrimination and bias that can be caused by technology.

In its recent judgment in R (Bridges) v CC South Wales [2020] EWCA Civ 1058, [2020] All ER (D) 26 (Aug) the Court of Appeal upheld three of five grounds of appeal against the South Wales Police (SWP) force’s use of automated facial recognition (AFR) technology. Among its conclusions, the court found that the force’s discretion for its use of AFR was too broad to meet the standard required by Art 8(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), albeit it found that the force’s use of AFR was proportionate in the circumstances. However, the court’s wider comments in its judgment serve as a reminder of the potential for unlawful discrimination to be perpetrated by technology.

Trials

South Wales Police force has conducted trials of mobile AFR technology