IGF 2022 WS #463 Strategic Litigation for Digital Rights in Latin America

Description:

In 2019 the government of the city of Buenos Aires implemented a new surveillance system. To date, 68% of the streets of Buenos Aires city are monitored by over 10 thousands security cameras. According to governmental authorities, 300 of these cameras are also equipped with a facial recognition software, meant to identify fugitives by matching the images with a database of biometric data that would immediately allow their arrest. The Ministry of Security of the City of Buenos Aires should have accessed only the personal data of 40.000 fugitives from justice, but obtained biometric records of millions of citizens. This system, implemented without proper consultation and legitimacy, violates basic human rights such as the principle of innocence and the right to assemble on public roads. It implies that anyone who walks by a camera in public streets is identified and "profiled" by an algorithm, with mechanisms and purposes we do not know. As everyone must be analyzed, this includes minors who are not known a priori to be minors, contravening the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Finally, it also creates a risk for society in case of a security breach: If someone manages toaccess the system (because no security system is perfect) the potential dangers of its improper use are absolutely disproportionate.

From O.D.I.A we made several requests for access to public information that were never responded satisfactorily. Therefore, we presented a class action to stop the Facial Recognition System for Fugitives of the City of Buenos Aires that was succesful after many procedural difficulties we had to overcome. In this panel, we will discuss how we approached the case of the Facial Recognition System for Fugitives of the City of Buenos Aires as a successful case of strategic litigation with a multi-stakeholder perspective, including civil society organizations, media and academia. We got support from several national and international organizations who presented amicus curiae, such as the CELS, Access Now, Fundación Vía Libre, Derechos Digitales. We also managed to raise awareness of the case and surveillance issues broadly, through reaching out to the media. We were featured in radio and TV shows (CNN, France24, C5N, RadioConVos) as well as national newspapers such as Página 12, Clarín and La Nación. Additionally, the rulings were included in books and as compulsory readings in academic syllabi.