Identifying Terrorists: Privacy Rights in the United States and the United Kingdom

Authors

Joyce W. Luk

Abstract

While the privacy concerns raised by technological advances are widely recognized, recent terrorist attacks and developments in surveillance and information technologies have led to a convergence of technologies that present new challenges to the right to privacy.

This Note gives a general background on video surveillance and facial recognition software and discusses the technology behind, and uses of, closed circuit television in the United States and elsewhere. The Note also explores the meaning of privacy, privacy rights, and their applicability to facial recognition technology, video surveillance, and other emerging surveillance technologies in the United States. It discusses privacy rights and statutory regulations in the United Kingdom dealing with new surveillance technology, and includes a comparative analysis of the privacy protections of the United Kingdom and the United States. The author proposes implementing some of the United Kingdom's privacy protections in the United States, and concludes that proper regulation would allow facial recognition software and video surveillance to be used in ways that help society, without violating personal autonomy and a person's reasonable expectation of privacy.

Recommended Citation

Joyce W. Luk, Identifying Terrorists: Privacy Rights in the United States and the United Kingdom, 25 Hastings Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 223 (2002).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_international_comparative_law_review/vol25/iss2/5