Professor Pete Fussey, Professor of Criminology at The University of Southampton and Dr Daragh Murray, Reader in International Law and Human Rights at Queen Mary University London, will deliver the 13th CRISP online seminar. The seminar is entitled 'Facial Recognition Surveillance: Policing and Human Rights in the Age of Artificial Intelligence'  and will begin at 1pm GMT on Wednesday 17th December 2025. To join the seminar, click on the 'Join the Seminar' link at the bottom of this page.  The link will become live 15 minutes before the start of the seminar. 

Abstract

In this seminar, Pete Fussey and Daragh Murray discuss their recent book 'Facial Recognition Surveillance: Policing and Human Rights in the Age of Artificial Intelligence'.  They explore how FRT is a socio-technical system that fundamentally reshapes the nature of policing. Following the rapid growth and controversy surrounding facial recognition technology (FRT) and drawing on ethnographic studies of police FRT deployments, they examine how FRT transforms police practices, surveillance capabilities, and human rights protections. Drawing on perspectives from Sociology, Technology Studies and Human Rights Theory, Pete and Daragh critique the scientific and legal narratives that support FRT's expansion, introduce the concept of 'compound human rights harm' and develop a due diligence framework for the use of FRT.

Biographies

Pete Fussey is a Professor of Criminology at the University of Southampton and researches the human rights implications of advanced surveillance and other policing technologies. His other published work analyses digital sociology, algorithmic justice, and urban studies. He has authored work laid before the UN General Assembly; co-authored UN human rights standards on police technology at protests; and co-directed the ESRC Human Rights, Big Data and Technology project (2015-2023). Professor Fussey's research has featured on the front pages of The Guardian and Financial Times, and additionally covered by BBC Newsnight, PBS Newshour, The New York Times, Washington Post, BBC Radio 4 and others.

Daragh Murray is a Reader in International Law & Human Rights at Queen Mary University London School of Law, and a Fellow of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences. He specialises in international human rights law and the law of armed conflict, with an interest in artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. He currently leads an 8-year UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship examining the 'unintended consequences' of artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on understanding: the impact of AI on decision-making processes; the links between surveillance and the processes central to individual's identity development and the evolution of democratic societies; and how international law can inform better pre-deployment decision making.

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