Report incident 🔥 | Improve page 💁 | Access database 🔢
The city of Buenos Aires' Fugitive Facial Recognition System or Sistema de Reconocimiento Facial de Prófugos (SNRP) is a system comprising approximately 300 cameras on public roads, subway and train stations intended to identify people wanted by the police.
Introduced in April 2019, the SNRP was governed by a cooperation agreement between the Buenos Aires Ministry of Security and the Ministry of National Justice which allowed access to the National Consultation on Rebellions and Captures (Consulta Nacional de Rebeldías y Capturas) database of approximately 40,000 individuals wanted by the national authorities.
In April 2022, Judge Andrés Gallardo discovered through a legal injunction that the City of Buenos Aires Government had also signed a side deal with Argentina's national ID database – the National Register of People or Registro Nacional de las Personas (RENAPER) that enabled authorities across the country to access data held by Buenos Aires city, and vice-versa.
In total, the personal data of 9.9 million people, including the country's formers presidents Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Alberto Fernández, and numerous journalists and business people, was accessed between April 2019 and March 2022.
Media reports also revealed that Buenos Aires leaders had proposed making available to the national executive facial recognition cameras for identifying poverty demonstrators considered a potential threat to the government.
Facial recognition system
A facial recognition system is a technology potentially capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces.
Source: Wikipedia 🔗
An April 2022 appeal (pdf) by the Observatorio de Derecho Informático Argentino (ODIA) accused the SNRP of a lack of transparency concerning the personal data being collected and used.
The SNRP system has been criticised for potential privacy violations, erroneous arrests due to system flaws, discrimination and the infringement of constitutional rights.
Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (2019). Boletín Oficial de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires - Nro 5604 (pdf)
ConMiCaraNo. Reconocimiento facial en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires
CELS (2022). El ministerio de seguridad de la ciudad buscó información biométrica de 7 millones de personas de manera ilegal
La Defensoría del Pueblo de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (2022). INCONSTITUCIONALIDAD DEL SISTEMA DE RECONOCIMIENTO FACIAL DE PRÓFUGOS
Future of Privacy Forum (2022). Judge declares Buenos Aires' fugitive facial recognition system unconstitutional
Civicus (2022). Buenos Aires' facial recognition system suspended
Derechos Digitales (2022). La Justicia ordena suspender el sistema de reconocimiento facial de prófugos en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires
ADC (2022). Letter to Buenos Aires mayor (pdf)
Human Rights Watch (2020). Letter to Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta re: facial recognition system and children’s rights
https://ai-regulation.com/suspension-of-buenos-aires-facial-recognition-system/
https://ai-regulation.com/argentinian-court-found-facial-recognition-unconstitutional/
https://www.pagina12.com.ar/415496-espionaje-ilegal-en-caba-un-peritaje-clave-en-los-servidores
https://www.marval.com/publicacion/se-declara-inconstitucional-el-sistema-de-reconocimiento-facial-de-profugos-de-la-ciudad-de-buenos-aires-14337
https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/la-justicia-portena-declaro-inconstitucional-el-sistema-de-reconocimiento-facial-usado-por-la-ciudad-nid07092022/
https://www.clarin.com/policiales/detenidos-sistema-reconocimiento-facial-60-dias_0_XVMAqEeu1.html
Page info
Type: System
Published: December 2022
Last updated: December 2024