Moving in the 'rights' direction

School of Law graduate Hussain Syed has written a blog for the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) on the increasing use of facial recognition software and the implications for individual rights and freedoms.

With the number of police on the ground down by 15 percent, the rise of mass surveillance technologies poses critical human rights questions: "Using facial recognition technology for surveillance in public spaces presents several dangers to our human rights. In the face of this danger to our freedoms, the laws protecting our human rights are more important than ever. The Human Rights Act ensures that our right to a private and family life (Article 8) is respected by public authorities, including the police. This means that any interference with your privacy must comply with UK law and have a valid purpose, meeting a social need in a proportionate way.Any future legal framework for facial recognition or any government strategy for the ethics and governance of biometric data requires a human rights approach."

Read Hussain's BIHR the blog here.

Hussain joined BIHR in August 2019 before the final year of his LLB. Prior to his internship, he was a student scholar at the Mile End Institute. During his LLB, Hussain worked as a support team member and student adviser at Queen Mary University's Legal Advice Centre, delivering workshops on preventing image-based abuse and advising victims of 'revenge porn' on their legal rights. He presented his research on reforming legislation regarding revenge porn at the British Conference for Undergraduate Research.

• Read about Hussain's time as a BIHR Summer Intern here.
• Read more about the BIHR's QMUL Intern Alumni here.