The Police's National Forensic Center, NFC, has together with the police's IT department conducted a pilot project with automatic image analysis in criminal investigations.

The Swedish Data Inspectorate has now, after prior consultation, given the green light to the authority to apply the new technology in criminal investigative activities.

- It is an incredible streamlining, says Niclas Appleby, forensic scientist at NFC and project manager for automatic image analysis within the project "Vulnerable areas".

Face data will be read

The technology, which is planned to be introduced sharply, primarily in the metropolitan regions this autumn, is said to make it possible to analyze and filter individual objects in the investigation material. It can be about connecting, following and finding vehicles, weapons, clothes or other objects captured in a picture.

But registration plates and biometric face data will also be able to be read, according to the police.

- It is a tool that is there to help preliminary investigations that have taken care of large amounts of image and video material. It is still a manual job that is required, but it clearly shortens the analysis time, says Niclas Appleby.

The tool is said to have been used successfully in several investigations during the pilot period. Among other things, it is stated that the suspects' movement patterns could have been mapped more easily.

Guidelines must be developed

Next, the police must produce guidelines for how, when and in which contexts automatic image analysis is to be used. Niclas Appleby emphasizes that searches will not be linked to the police register or have links to real-time camera surveillance.

- You process personal biometric data of faces that appear in the investigation material. And there, the Data Inspectorate has made a trade-off that we have a legitimate interest in doing this, he says.

"Risk of intrusion"

The Data Inspectorate, DI, writes in its statement that biometric data is "particularly worthy of protection" and that the planned data processing "entails a special risk of invasion of the data subjects' personal integrity". A number of comments have been made, but in general no objections are stated to the police's assessment regarding the usefulness of the work.

- In advance consultation, we provide guidance from a privacy protection perspective. In this case, we have provided some comments on the documentation that the police have submitted, says Jonas Agnvall, lawyer at the Swedish Data Inspectorate.