FACIAL recognition CCTV costing £1.2 million has not been switched on five years after being installed due to data protection laws.

The system, designed to allow police and community safety workers to locate and track individuals through CCTV, is an expensive white elephant, according to a privacy campaigner.

The “Suspect Search” system was installed by Police Scotland and Community Safety Glasgow.

However, a freedom of information request revealed CSG had not completed a data protection impact assessment necessary before the system can be used. A different response cited complications with the operations manual as the reason for further delay, and CSG has said that the introduction of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) had caused additional delay.

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Suspect Search was initially described as having facial recognition capabilities, but Glasgow City Council and CSG say it is not intended to be used in this way and described the system as “person search”.

Guidance on the operation of CCTV systems and the integration of facial recognition technologies emphasises the need to involve the public and be as transparent as possible about how it will work and what safeguards are in place to ensure they do not impinge on civil liberties and human rights.

But details of how Glasgow’s unique system will work have only gradually been revealed, thanks to freedom of information requests by privacy campaigner Pippa King.

As revealed in The Herald yesterday, Suspect Search – which CSG disputes is a “facial recognition” system – is to be used to monitor and manage crowds and help locate individuals such as vulnerable people and lost children.

It will also be used to identify people suspected of antisocial or criminal behaviour. A total of 26 people are expected to have access to the Suspect Search software.

If a specific person is being sought, an avatar based on a photograph or descriptions of them can be input into the system, allowing cameras to search a crowd for potential matches.

As a result Ms King is sceptical of the claims that it is not a facial recognition system. She is also wary of the emphasis being put on finding missing or vulnerable people, rather than fighting crime. “IT is called Suspect Search, that is what it is for,” she said.

A city council spokeswoman declined to confirm or dispute the £1.2m cost of the system. It has rejected freedom of information requests on the basis that revealing the price would harm the commercial interests of the council and Nice, the security company which supplied the software.

Describing the system as “person” search, she said it would only be used in line with existing data laws including GDPR. “GDPR requires the council to carry out a data protection impact assessment prior to using new equipment such as this.” Eleven months on from GDPR coming into effect, this assessment remains outstanding.

“The council also intends to consult with the Information Commissioner’s Office prior to any operational use of the system,” GCC said. The spokeswoman said that the UK Government’s Surveillance Commissioner, while having no remit in Scotland, has nevertheless accredited CSG and GCC to his certified standards as a pilot programme and as a result, Glasgow’s CCTV system is “the only one in Scotland who has achieved this standard”.

In January 2017, the council said a data protection assessment would be completed by February 17 and the system would be switched on soon afterwards: “The ... independent evaluation report will be available in early 2017. A period of operational use will be required before a full evaluation of Suspect Search can be carried out,” it explained.

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The lengthy subsequent delay – the system was initially intended to be operational in 2014 – is an indication that its use simply cannot be squared with laws about retaining personal data on individuals not convicted of a crime, Pippa King says.

“Glasgow city’s ‘Suspect Search’ facility, which is behind 70 of the city’s public space CCTV cameras, is not in operation yet because since 2015 the council have not been able to satisfy its obligations under data protection legislation to provide a privacy impact assessment to show that it does not impact on the public’s privacy,” she added.

“Questions need to be asked – why does Glasgow ‘need’ such a privacy-invasive persons of interest tracking system, are the levels of crime through the roof to justify such a system? What legal advice or human rights organisations have they consulted with? Have they actually consulted with the public in Glasgow to see if ‘Suspect Search’ is wanted?

“This system gives ordinary people no choice of the level of surveillance when they want to live normally in Glasgow city centre, with no clear guidelines on the use of such a system, or even public signage that such a system is there, this surveillance creep is the first of its kind should it be switched on in Europe.

“Suspect Search tracking, loitering alerts and geofencing capabilities are completely unnecessary.

“It effectively turns the community into an open air prison, posing a massive breach to privacy and civil liberties.”