The government’s investigators already have a ready bill on face recognition with AI in real time that complies with the EU’s new rules. However, the proposal needs to be supplemented before it can be presented.
– It is not unusual that we have a picture of the likely perpetrator, but then we cannot find him or her, says national police chief Petra Lundh to Ekot.
– This applies to murder and arson and other really, really serious crimes. I think it would make a difference, she says.
Risking privacy
The police already today have increased opportunities to use camera surveillance to investigate crimes. But according to EU rules, from the beginning of the summer, it will also be allowed to use facial recognition to look for people suspected of serious crimes.
The risk that personal integrity would be violated with AI recognition, Lundh believes, should be weighed against the benefit it can do for the police. According to her, the measure may also be temporary.
– There is nothing that prevents us from turning back legislation and other things when it becomes calmer in society, it can actually be done, says Lundh.
“Points to the seriousness”
In the past week, Israel’s embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen have been attacked, and according to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, Swedish gang criminals, acting on behalf of Iran, are suspected of being behind the deed.
According to Petra Lundh, such connections have not been established, but she says that if this is the case, it shows “the seriousness we have in this country”.
– Now it’s not just gang crime and serious organized crime, but now it can be other things as well.