Events

AAFS Plenary Session

AAFS Plenary Session: 27th June 2024 at 6pm.  Location: The Union University & Schools Club, 25 Bent Street (Cnr Phillip St), Sydney, NSW 2000

Title: Oversight of Police Intelligence: A Complex Web, but is it enough? 

Speaker: Lyria Bennett Moses, Professor, UNSW Faculty of Law and Justice 

Abstract:  Globally, law enforcement agencies are increasingly using technology in the context of police intelligence in a range of ways including the use of facial recognition, social media analytics and predictive policing tools. A variety of laws govern such use, including police powers and privacy law, all of which differ by jurisdiction. One thing that is important in all jurisdictions is proper oversight over the legality of such practices. Such oversight raises distinct issues from general oversight of policing given the secrecy associated with police intelligence generally and the use of complex software in particular. This presentation discusses the findings of a doctrinal and empirical study into the jurisdiction, function, powers and expertise of oversight mechanisms in Australia, New Zealand and Canada with reference to capacity to oversee the legality of emerging police intelligence practices. 

Bio: Lyria is a Professor and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW Sydney. She is also co-lead of the Law and Policy theme in the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre, Faculty Lead, Law and Justice in the UNSW Institute for Cyber Security and co-chair of the Australian Law Associate Dean Research Network. Lyria’s research explores issues around the relationship between technology and law, including the types of legal issues that arise as technology changes, how these issues are addressed in Australia and other jurisdictions, and the problems of treating “technology” as an object of regulation. Recently, she has been working on legal and policy issues associated with the use of artificial intelligence and the appropriate legal framework for enhancing cyber security. Lyria sits on the NSW Information and Privacy Advisory Committee, the Executive Committee of the Australian Chapter of the IEEE’s Society for the Social Implications of Technology and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.