ADC and UCLA hold an event on facial recognition in Argentina

Alejandro Segarra, head of Strategic Litigation for the Association for Civil Rights (ADC), spoke at the webinar «Challenges and Problems of Facial Recognition in Argentina», organized by ADC and the Institute for Technology, Law & Policy of the University of California (UCLA) on March 7. «At least six provinces are using facial recognition in public spaces for crime prevention, with different levels of intrusiveness”, he said.

The meeting was an opportunity to examine the increasing deployment of these systems in Argentina and the need for a public debate on the threat they pose to society and democracy. Putting the issue on the agenda is key to protecting people’s privacy within the international human rights framework.

During the event, Segarra also shared the experience of ADC’s microsite Con Mi Cara No (Not With My Face), dedicated to informing and warning the population on the spread of biometric technologies throughout the country.

At the regional level, our representative considered: «In general, Latin American countries do not do a tripartite test in security measures, nor do they analyze the legality of these types of equipment. They are normally treated within the discussion about crime in public spaces, regardless of the classification of the different crimes, and the place or the time that such crimes occur”.

When asked about the prospects of the legal actions conducted by ADC against them, he replied: «I expect a moderate success. These are technologies that happen and will continue to happen. It is inevitable. From a civil society perspective, ADC advocates for their total ban, or at least an extremely limited use. This is not happening and is not going to happen».

Vladimir Cortes, Article 19 (Mexico and Central America) Digital Rights Program Officer, and Veronica Arroyo, Policy Analyst for Latin America at Access Now, were also part of the talk.