In the procurement, the MUP described the "Analyze Di Pro" program as "software for sorting and analyzing large amounts of images and videos, with a focus on cases containing material of sexual exploitation of children." However, it is clear from the specifications on the company's official website that these are not the central or most advanced features of the program. This is software for biometric data processing
If the regime this time manages to push through the draft law on the police that also introduces biometric surveillance, Belgrade will become a kind of Big Brother city, whose residents will be constantly monitored. Thousands of cameras have already been installed, and software with the necessary specifications has been procured. Potentially solving the "most serious crimes" will not be of any consolation to the public when their privacy rights are being massively violated.
Every police force in the world is striving to legalize mass biometric surveillance. This is not a secret, nor an exclusive feature of authoritarian regimes. The only question is whether they will succeed in their plans, how far they will go, and whether there will be adequate control mechanisms. In democratic societies, control is certainly stronger than in captive states because there are more so-called braking elements. Unfortunately, Serbia belongs to this second group. For example, the institutions of the European Union, and especially the European Parliament, advocate a ban on the use of mass biometric surveillance in member states. Reason: high risk of violation of human rights and freedoms. On the other hand, some countries, like China, already use these systems extensively.
The new Draft Law on Internal Affairs, as well as the Draft Law on Data Processing and Records in Internal Affairs and the new working document on the assessment of the impact of biometric data processing, will enable, if adopted, the use of intrusive technology in Serbia through the recording of public spaces, the storage of materials, the detection of faces during recording, extracting biometric data from photos and videos, but also using software for their recognition and matching with other databases.
FROM LOCATION TO IDENTITY AND VICE VERSA
photo: strahinja aćimović / tanjug...
The collection of biometric data should be distinguished from its software processing. The first part involves mass recording in public areas using different types of cameras. On the basis of these images, i.e. photos extracted from video recordings, faces are detected, which are then distinguished in the form of biometric data. They become a kind of biometric digital code. This process is automated and, according to the new draft law, it will not be necessary to obtain prior approval from the competent court. That is, in other words, the recording is constant and indiscriminate, and the system detects the faces of all those who are within the range of the cameras. Recorded video material will reportedly be kept from 30 days to 12 months, while the extracted biometric data will be available for 72 hours.
On the other hand, to process the collected data, primarily for identification, it is necessary to use software. The draft defines that an authorized person has the right to use the software in cases of finding the "perpetrator of a criminal offense for which the prosecution is undertaken ex officio, a person who is reasonably suspected of preparing the commission of a criminal offense of terrorism and related criminal offenses, as well as a person who is being sought".
Unlike the collection and storage of biometric data, for software searches, the authorized person must, according to the draft law on internal affairs, have a court decision. There are three types of search. The first semi-automated one is used when it is necessary to follow a person whose identity is already known or to locate him in the previous 72 hours. This is done by entering a person's image into the software, which then performs recognition in the database of extracted biometric data, and based on the obtained results, finds the locations where the person was recorded. Another type of search is automated and is used when a person is being monitored in real time. The procedure is similar to the previous one, except that the software recognizes the current location where the person was seen. It is foreseen that this method can only be used in a certain period of time and on persons who are specially marked as security interest. The third search, which is again semi-automated, enables the identification of an unknown person. The procedure is as follows: the biometric data of the recorded person is cross-referenced with other available records so that the software recognizes the person's identity. The draft does not clearly define which records are allowed to be used, which could be problematic in terms of how far the red line of the right to privacy is set, which should by no means be crossed.
Searching of stored videos can be done according to criteria such as location, name of the camera site, date and time when the recording was made, and "using special analytical tools and based on other criteria", says the impact assessment study. It is not explained what kind of tools are meant, nor what are the "other criteria" in those cases.
DANGEROUS WEAPONS
Photo: Bojan StekićSERBIAN POLICE SEE US ALL: Cameras in Belgrade
The system for documenting, that is, taking photos and making videos, including those in "real time", has been in existence for years, and it was installed throughout Belgrade as part of the "safe city" project of the Chinese company Huawei. Thousands of cameras were installed in almost as many locations in the capital, and for a long time it was not known what they were for or who had access to their data. The mentioned drafts provide an answer to the first question. It is important to note that cameras alone are not sufficient for mass biometric surveillance because they do not contain software for processing biometric data. They have the ability to detect faces, but not to recognize them, and are therefore only the first step in the surveillance chain - in a sense necessary, but not sufficient. In addition to them, there are other types of cameras that are not systemically connected to software because their primary purpose is not biometric surveillance, but data from them can subsequently be used in combination with software.
Investigative journalists of BIRN published an article in mid-November about the realized acquisition of "Analyze Di Pro" software. Initially planned to be an accompanying epilogue to last year's attempt to adopt the law on the police, the procurement was carried out, quite secretly, at the beginning of this year. In the procurement, the MUP described the "Analyze Di Pro" program as "software for sorting and analyzing large amounts of images and videos, with a focus on cases containing material of sexual exploitation of children." A similar possibility that the program offers is highlighted on the website of the Swedish company Griffeye, which produces it: "automatic classification of the content of child exploitation, with high precision."
However, by reviewing the software specifications on the company's official website, it becomes clear that the tools it offers in the fight against child exploitation are neither the central nor the most advanced features of the program. In other words, there are many others who, taking into account all the current circumstances in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, could recommend it as an ideal solution for the mysterious software that is nowhere mentioned by name in the new draft laws, nor explained in detail.
"Analyze Di Pro" is a very dangerous tool. Among other things, this is a program for biometric data processing. The recognition of the digital biometric code and the matching of photographs and videos of the person with databases works in the same way as explained in the impact assessment study and the Draft Law on Data Processing. The software is not limited to classic records, but also has the possibility of "mining" data from the Internet, downloading and cross-referencing, based on so-called metadata, with GPS coordinates, the time when the recording was made, as well as the serial number of the phone. Also, the program can search social networks, that is, recognize faces based on databases extracted from networks such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other lesser-known platforms. The software can also process data from the so-called dark web, where there really is a wide range of different leaked private data. Using artificial intelligence, the program has the ability to "discover" hidden parts of the photo. For example, when a face is not clearly visible behind the glass, he will create the "most likely" picture of what that face could look like.
A particularly worrying feature of this software is the ability to recognize faces if they are covered or just not fully visible. "Analyze Di Pro" can only use eyes or ears, or a so-called neural network of artificial intelligence, to recognize a person based on facial features. The site states that it is sometimes possible to recognize eyes even if a person wears dark glasses. Also, the software recognizes tattoos. To all the mentioned characteristics, we should add the fact that police biometric databases are not necessary for "Analyze Di Pro" to recognize faces, given that there are so many databases on the Internet, both consciously published and leaked data, that it can use for matching. The only question is - will the police limit its use?
THE RISK IS GREAT
Bojan Perkov, a researcher at the "Share" Foundation, which has been reporting on this topic for a long time, told "Vreme" that "the processing of citizens' biometric data through the video-surveillance system of practically all streets, squares and other public areas in a city represents a disproportionate measure whose necessity is not proven", as he says, bearing in mind that "the privacy of all citizens moving through the streets would certainly be violated, but the effects on reducing crime and increasing public safety are unknown". He adds that "there is no evidence that trends in the commission of criminal offenses justify the introduction of this measure".
The Ministry of Internal Affairs prepared a study on the assessment of the impact of biometric data processing on the protection of personal data. As a high-impact problem, the potential profiling of faces, that is, decision-making based on some preferences, rules of conduct, personal characteristics, sexual and ideological beliefs, which the software profiles through automated processing, was identified. Although it is strictly prohibited, the level of probability of violation of the rights and freedoms of persons is "high" according to the study. On the other hand, indiscriminate use of software was marked as predominantly highly influential. This implies that random "passers-by" cannot be excluded, that is, their data will also be processed if they are in the recording zone. As the study states, this affects the reasonable expectations of passers-by to be "anonymous" in a public place, and creates the feeling that they are "subject to constant surveillance". Assessments of the impact of software errors, access by unauthorized persons, and the risk of abuse by authorized officials on the rights and freedoms of persons were also highlighted - also predominantly high.
As the study itself indicated the existence of a risk of abuse - although the probability of this happening was marked as "medium" - the question of trust in the MUP as an institution is raised again. Long-term non-transparency, closedness to the public and frequent problems with abuse of position have created a high dose of mistrust, which will only deepen with the introduction of biometric surveillance. It is enough to look at the previous two or three years and the arrests related to Jovanjica or the Belivuk clan - how many police officers were on the dock? Not a little. There is also the ubiquitous fear of leaking such delicate data, which is also no stranger to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
By repeatedly trying to push through the same law, the Ministry of Interior raises many questions, but gives a precise and unequivocal answer to few of them. The term mass biometric surveillance masks the alleged fight against the most serious crimes, at the expense of the privacy of all other residents of the capital. If this law passes, the fact is that the citizens of Belgrade will live in the shadow of an omnipotent eye, which never sleeps and from which they cannot hide.
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