World’s first court challenge to facial recognition tech defeated

World’s first court challenge to facial recognition tech defeated
A British man says he’ll appeal a High Court decision on the world’s first court challenge to the use of facial recognition software by police.

Ed Bridges from Cardiff brought the case with help from civil rights organization Liberty after his face was scanned without his consent while Christmas shopping in 2017 and at an anti-arms protest in 2018. He claimed this violated his privacy and data protection rights.

South Wales Police defended their use of the automatic facial recognition (AFR) technology and two judges ruled that its use was not unlawful.

Liberty is now calling for a total ban on the use of AFR.

“This disappointing judgment does not reflect the very serious threat that facial recognition poses to our rights and freedoms,” said Liberty lawyer Megan Goulding. “Facial recognition is a highly intrusive surveillance technology that allows the police to monitor and track us all. It is time that the Government recognised the danger this dystopian technology presents to our democratic values and banned its use. Facial recognition has no place on our streets.”

Dan Squires and Aidan Wills of Matrix Chambers are instructed by Liberty on behalf of Ed Bridges.

Dentons continues South American expansion with two mergers
Dentons is extending its footprint and capabilities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with two new combinations.

It has announced proposed tie-ups with Rattagan Macchiavello Arocena in Argentina and with Jiménez de Aréchaga, Viana & Brause in Uruguay; building on its stated aim to become the leading global firm in the LAC region. 

Since entering the LAC region in 2016, Dentons will now have offices in 23 countries across the region, something global chair Joe Andrew says is the result of a winning strategy.

“This tremendous growth is a result of Dentons’ focus on finding combination partners who have the proven ability to offer sophisticated, high-quality legal services and business solutions in their home markets as it creates a virtuous circle for attracting talent both within a new market and future combination partners within the region,” he said.

The combinations, following approval by partners and subject to meeting regulatory requirements, are expected to launch in the next several months.

Global firm appoints head of litigation technology
Eversheds Sutherland has hired lawyer and legal technology expert to boost its legal technology capabilities.

Melina Efstathiou has joined as head of litigation technology after a decade working in the legal tech space, most recently at eDiscovery solutions firm Relativity as senior customer success manager.

Her role at Eversheds Sutherland will be helping to lead the firm’s Litigation Group’s legal project management and technology team, Propel, which launched in May this year.

“Our combined legal project management and litigation technology team, Propel, is forging a market-leading reputation,” said Paul Worth, global co-head of litigation. “We are fast becoming known for litigators who understand technology supported by technologists who understand litigation, we are creating a virtuous circle for the benefit of our clients.”