Asked by: Lord Evans of Weardale (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by San Francisco to ban the use of facial recognition technology by local agencies due to its alleged unreliability.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
It is right to debate the use of new technologies in democratic societies. It is clearly a decision for the San Francisco City Board of Supervisors whether its agencies should use facial recognition technology.
Facial recognition has the potential to play an important role in the detection and prevention of crime, and the police here have commissioned independent reviews of its effectiveness.
Facial recognition is a fast evolving area of technology with the potential to streamline identity verification and authentication processes across Government and the private sector. When used in the appropriate setting and context, it has proved to be a very reliable and accurate tool. Its performance is dependent on a number of variables, from the quality of the images, environmental factors, the specific algorithm used, the thresholds or risk profile applied and many other factors. Possible matches produced by live facial recognition systems are always checked by a human operator before deciding what, if any, action to take.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Weardale (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the murder of Jo Cox MP, whether they plan to introduce national co-ordinating arrangements to provide a consistent level of security assistance to MPs or members of the House of Lords who have received direct or implicit threats as a result of their parliamentary duties; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Following threats to MPs following the Parliamentary debates on Syria late last year, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the police, the Home Office and the House of Commons Security Department worked together to review the security measures available for MPs. Revised security advice and guidance, and a process to access funding for standardised security measures was sent to all MPs in January. In addition enhanced security arrangements are developed on the basis of specific intelligence.
These measures have been reviewed in light of the tragic murder of Jo Cox. Where Members of either House are subject to abusive behaviour or receive threats, these should always be reported to the police.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Weardale (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what national co-ordinating arrangements are in place to provide reassurance or security assistance to MPs or members of the House of Lords who receive direct or implicit threats as a result of their parliamentary duties.
Answered by Lord Bates
As the Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, Leader of the House of Commons, stated during Business of the House of Commons on Thursday 17th December (Hansard Column No 1703), it has been agreed that a standardised approach to security packages will be made available to Members of Parliament and will address the personal security outside Westminster including at constituency offices and their homes and will include consideration of staff safety. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) will shortly be announcing details of how to access the security packages.