Israel use of facial recognition to monitor Hebron Palestinians raises human rights concerns

The use of facial recognition and other AI tools and techniques by Israel's defence forces to monitor Palestinians violates their basic rights, according to a 82-page report by human rights organisation Amnesty.

Israel was found to be using AI-based surveillance technologies including 'Red Wolf', a facial recognition system installed at checkpoints which automatically dentifies Palestinians, and 'Blue Wolf', a smartphone-based facial recognition tool rolled out late 2020 that performs much the same function across Hebron and east Jerusalem. 

The two systems link to 'Wolf Pack', a database containing profiles of Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, including photographs, family histories, education, and security ratings. 

Wolf Pack enables Israeli soldiers to identify and detain Palestinians before they have presented their ID cards, and allows Israel to 'consolidate existing practices of discriminatory policing, segregation, and curbing freedom of movement,' Amnesty said.

➕ November 2021. The Washington Post reported the existence of the 'Wolf Pack' and 'Blue Wolf' systems, suggesting they may form part of 'Hebron Smart City', a broader real-time system comprising closed-circuit TV, computer vision, and movement sensors that tracks Palestinians across the city and, according to a former IDF soldier, in their homes. 

Hebron Smart City also reputedly includes 'White Wolf', an app used by security officials in West Bank settlements to identify Palestinians before they enter 'illegal' settlements to work.

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Amnesty International (2023). Automated Apatheid

• Who Profits (2018). “Big Brother” in Jerusalem’s Old City: Israel’s Militarized Visual Surveillance System in Occupied East Jerusalem (pdf)

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/technology/israel-palestine-facial-recognition.html

• https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/21/palestine-israel-ai-surveillance-tech-hebron-occupation-privacy/

• https://www.newarab.com/analysis/how-ai-big-tech-and-spyware-power-israels-occupation

• https://www.thedailybeast.com/israels-tech-spying-on-palestinians-would-shame-dictatorships

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-palestinians-surveillance-facial-recognition/2021/11/05/3787bf42-26b2-11ec-8739-5cb6aba30a30_story.html

• https://forward.com/opinion/478846/israel-new-surveillance-technology-occupation-palestinians/

• https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/more-details-published-on-idf-use-of-facial-recognition-in-west-bank-684379

• https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-building-facial-recognition-database-of-palestinians-in-hebron-report/

• https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/israel-deploys-sweeping-facial-recognition-tech-in-west-bank-report-3583763

• https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-surveils-palestinians-in-west-bank-in-massive-facial-recognition-program-1.10363514