DATE
3 April 2025

TIME
08:00 BST (London) 
09:00 CEST (Brussels) 
15:00 SGT (Singapore) 
18:00 AEDT (Sydney)   
20:00 NZDT (Wellington)

LOCATION
Live and on-demand

DURATION
90 minutes

MEETING OUTLINE

On the Pulse Conversations are part of a series held online to deliver content to our members in a timely and concise format.

This On The Pulse Conversation takes a closer look at facial recognition (FR) in places the public accesses. On one hand there are retail environments, clubs and stadiums where space owners might want to deploy private sector solutions; on the other, there are policing / law enforcement use cases including the use of images from CCTV and the deployment of live facial recognition (LFR).
It’s important to differentiate these use cases as they present different risks and their mitigation.

In policing / law enforcement the two main uses cases we see are ‘retrospective/ post-event (criminal) investigations’ and ‘real-time (live) facial recognition’ (LFR). For retrospective investigations the same standards and processes should apply to facial recognition that apply to DNA (robust quality management procedures (ISO/IEC 17025:2017). This is important for public assurance. LFR worries the public, the media badges it “AI”, and it feels like a continuous police line-up. Police have always conducted live recognition of people (manual policing surveillance techniques) with officers in the street, but the technology creates fear. LFR is only indicative / speculative and should only lead to the question: Should we stop this person? Reassurances about data deletion are important. Independent testing throughout the life-cycle of the systems critical.

There is also private sector usage of facial recognition e.g. in retail environments to protect staff or clubs and stadiums and this also influences public perception. Shouldn’t it match the same standards and policies as police and law enforcement use for their LFR usage as citizens will see the use cases in the same light? And what about citizens using their own facial recognition and feeding images to the police? It is clear that a consistent approach to the use of FR technology is critical, and its application through well-constructed policy and process.

The Biometrics Institute brings together the various stakeholders from police, law enforcement, private sector, the regulators and advocates and it provides guiding tools and frameworks to manage FR responsibly. This event will debate the issues and present some new Institute guidance to find solutions.

The conversation will be led by Biometrics Institute Expert Group members and guests including: 

• Roger Baldwin, Advisory Council Member, Biometrics Institute (moderator)
• Brett Feldon, Head of Digital Identity Group
• David White, Member, Technology and Innovation Expert Group
• Martin George, Member of Digital Identity Group
• Mick O’Connell, Advisory Council Member
• Terry Aulich, Head of Privacy Expert Group
• Terry Hartmann, Member of Future Direction Group
• Jason Zhou, National Solutions Manager, Digital ID & Biometrics, NEC Australia

CALL FOR PRESENTING A VIEWPOINT (exclusive to Institute members):
There is also the opportunity for members to contribute to the event with a short three-minute viewpoint. This should be a perspective presenting pros and cons or solutions on the subject.

If you would like to present a key message, please email isabelle@biometricsinstitute.org your request (by 24 March) outlining the viewpoint you would like to present. This should be a short paragraph of about 100 words or four bullet points. We will then review the submissions to ensure a balanced discussion representing different viewpoints. 
If we receive multiple submissions, we reserve the right to choose the ones we feel are most suitable for the session.

REGISTRATION
This meeting is exclusive to members. To register for the live event, please email admin@biometricsinstitute.org. 
The conversation will be available to all members on demand after the live event.

Not a member and want to join the discussion? Join the Biometrics Institute now.

For our full range of events, please see our events calendar.