Privacy International's submission on Artificial Intelligence in counter-terrorism

PI believes that the use of AI technologies in counter-terrorism poses significant risks to human rights, risks that in certain cases cannot be adequately mitigated. As a result, governments should not design or deploy AI technologies for counter-terrorism without having first demonstrated their capacity to comply with existing human rights law.

In the submission, PI provides information, based on our research and analysis, on the following topics:

• How does the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in countering terrorism affect the right to privacy;
• Specific applications of AI in efforts to counter terrorism pose the greatest risks to human rights, such as biometrics, SOCMINT and profiling in military decision-making systems;
• Key human rights principles and safeguards, such as human rights by design and data security;
• The role of companies and public-private partnerships in the use of AI for counter-terrorism;
• Measures to improve explainability and transparency of AI systems;

The submission also suggests a range of recommendations for states and UN entities involved in counter-terrorism.