News
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Commissioner welcomes Annual Report for England and Wales and calls for end to UK Government indecisiveness
The Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Dr Brian Plastow has today welcomed the publication of the Annual Report of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner for England and Wales. The England and Wales Commissioner has a wider UK role where the police... -
Scottish Biometrics Commissioner and Director at the SPA Board Meeting
On 28 November the Commissioner and Director attended the SPA Board meeting to provide the SBC annual report. During the session the Commissioner talked about our previous assurance reviews and the Director confirmed the topics of our up and coming... -
Commissioner welcomes UK and Scottish ‘conversations’ on the future of Live Facial Recognition
On 19 June 2024, and in partnership with the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland, the Commissioner co-hosted the first ever ‘Biometrics in Criminal Justice Conference’ in Edinburgh. The conference was opened by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home... -
Commissioner at the Criminal Justice Committee
On the 13 November the Commissioner and Director attended a session of the Criminal Justice Committee. During the session the Commissioner discussed our latest Annual Report and Accounts, our recent joint report on Laws of Retention and provided a flavour... -
Report of a review of the retention of biometric data provided for under sections 18 to 19C of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 Scottish Government and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner
Report of a review of the retention of biometric data provided for under sections 18 to 19C of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 Scottish Government and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner -
Joint Statement from the Independent Scottish Parliamentary Officeholders
The following statement from the Scottish Independent Parliamentary Officeholders is made in response to the report of the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee on Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape. -
Commissioner welcomes FINDS Annual Report for 2023/24
Commissioner welcomes FINDS Annual Report for 2023/24 The Scottish Biometrics Commissioner, Dr Brian Plastow, has today welcomed the publication of the UK Forensic Information Databases Service (FINDS) Annual Report for 2023/24. The report includes important information on the operations of... -
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)
The Scottish Biometrics Commissioner has contributed to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) publication on Biometric data: Misuse, use, and collation. POST is the UK Parliament's dedicated research and knowledge exchange service, providing impartial and reliable analysis of... -
Commissioner invited to speak in the United States and in London
The Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Dr Brian Plastow will be speaking at an international conference on ‘Biometrics for Government and Law Enforcement’ to be held in Washington, D.C. in December 2024. -
Highlights from the first Scottish Biometrics Conference
In this video you will view highlights from the conference and from speaker such as The Cabinet Secretary for Justice Angela Constance MSP, Chief Constable Jo Farrell and the SBC Commissioner Brian Plastow along with many others. -
Police Scotland completes work on 2023 recommendations
On 23 July 2024, the Commissioner wrote the attached letter to Police Scotland noting that the four recommendations from our joint assurance reviews with the SPA in 2023 had been successfully discharged by Police Scotland. The recommendations arose from our... -
Commissioner calls for post-election ‘reset’ of UK Government Biometrics Strategy
In an article published today in the UK Security Journal the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Dr Brian Plastow has called for a reset of UK Government Biometrics Strategy. The Commissioner has previously criticised statements made by the former policing minister for...