COUNTER TERROR
Advanced surveillance Is a surveillance state the answer to terror?
O
n the 29th of November 2019, the whole of the UK was shocked and saddened by a brutal act of terror in the capital, reminding us all that the threat of terrorism is not an exaggeration of the media, but a very real danger. The atrocious acts of murderer Usman Khan, a known terror threat who was jailed for his part in an al-Qaida-inspired plot and released from prison early, has raised urgent questions concerning public safety and security and the adequacy of the supervision of offenders released on licence. Adrian Timberlake, chief technical director of Seven Technologies Group and specialist in developing technology that uses artificial
42 | February 2020 | IN SECURITY
intelligence and facial recognition for police and counter-terror operations, examines the potential of new technologies as an ally in combatting terror and ethical considerations in increasing security in public places. Advanced surveillance and security solutions that use new technologies, including automated facial recognition (AFR), artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent algorithms, have received public scrutiny and have often been criticised as a step closer to a ‘surveillance state’. AFR, in particular, has been under the microscope after the unpopular trials on London’s King’s Cross estate.1 However, the recent tragic event in London and the uncertainty it
has raised around public safety, especially after it was revealed that 74 people convicted of terrorism offences had been released early2, as Khan was, has raised an extremely pressing question. Should these people be more closely watched? Usman Khan was given an indeterminate public protection sentence (IPP) in 2012, which ends only when the Parole Board is satisfied that an offender no longer poses a risk to the public, after being convicted of plotting acts of terror which included a plans to “bomb high-profile locations and build a terrorist training camp in Pakistan”3, and was told that he would serve at least eight years in prison. However, this sentence was
