The Court of Justice of São Paulo suspended this Thursday (18) the call for bids for Smart Sampa, a program launched by the city of São Paulo that provides for the installation of 20,000 security cameras in the city with facial recognition technology. The auction was scheduled for next Tuesday (23). The decision is by Judge Luis Manuel Fonseca Pires, of the 3rd Public Treasury Court. The judge pointed out that these cameras with a facial recognition system could violate the General Data Protection Law and even pose a “serious threat to fundamental rights”, citing the risk of reproducing structural racism. “The dimension of the impact that the technological system of monitoring by facial recognition produces imposes the responsibility on the Public Power of only considering its use after the definition of precise legal rules that balance the objectives of public security with fundamental rights. That is why there is no way to acquire the video surveillance system without knowing how this data can be processed (General Data Protection Law) and how they should be considered in the protection of fundamental rights”, wrote the judge, in the decision. The mayoral notice was contested in court by the Bancada Feminista, a collective PSOL mandate in the São Paulo City Council. In a note, the Bancada Feminista assesses that the Smart Sampa program violates the General Data Protection Law and the Federal Constitution. “The annulment of the auction will prevent the city from deepening structural racism on the part of the municipal administration”, wrote cover artist Silvia Ferraro, from the collective mandate. “It is now world-wide knowledge that facial recognition cameras are machines for unfairly punishing black people,” she added. At the end of last year, the Municipal Court of Auditors (TCM) had already suspended the notice. According to a note from the court, “during the votes, the councilors showed concern about the use of artificial intelligence algorithms for facial recognition, especially with regard to the preservation of individual rights and freedoms provided for in the Federal Constitution”. According to the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, these cameras will help the municipal administration “in terms of security and mobility in the city”. The city hall highlighted that the program aims to integrate the actions of municipal bodies such as the Metropolitan Civil Guard and the Traffic Engineering Company (CET). “The project will have at least 20,000 new cameras by 2024, with 2,500 of them planned for the central region. The devices will be installed around municipal equipment such as schools, basic health units, parks, as well as in areas of great circulation and with a higher incidence of crime, in addition to being made available at the entrances and exits of the municipality”, said the city hall. Through a note sent to Agência Brasil, the city hall informs that it has not yet been officially notified of the injunction, “but it is following the case, together with the Municipal Attorney General, given the importance of the issue”. “As soon as it is notified, the city hall will adopt all the appropriate judicial measures to reform the decision, in order to guarantee the realization of the electronic auction of the Smart Sampa program, scheduled for next Tuesday (23)”, adds the administration. municipal, in the note.
Agência Brasil
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