Facial Recognition Software Potentially Coming to Belize

The Belize Police Department is working towards acquiring facial recognition software to increase public safety. However, the agreement initially signed to bring the technology into the country is currently on hold. According to Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, there are concerns over the security of private data. Here’s what he had to say.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“That agreement is currently on hold. There is a need for us to see how we can work it out perhaps if it is that they can develop a software, and then we just get back to them. That software without the exchanging of data where we can keep our data in house, then we may be able to go with that. But even the company itself had also called to say that they could not go through because of some issue with the software that they had developed. So they’re looking to see if they can develop one that the countries we cannot just believe, but the many Caribbean countries that had signed on to it. But we have all decided we’re not going through with it because of the issue with the software, but we’re hoping that when a new one comes, that it’ll be one that we can use in house without having to share data to any outside entity. Particularly for the facial recognition, because that would require that we would have to use the database of persons who have been convicted of crime. So we’d rather host that in house as opposed to share it outside.”

 

Reporter

“And if in the event, the program cannot work unless you share the data, what happens then?”

 

Chester Williams

“Then we look at other sources because there are other sources out there that do provide the data without, do provide the software without us having to share the data. .”