The paradox of protection: security, fundamental rights, and the advancement of unregulated facial recognition policies

Abstract

The study analyzes the regulation of video surveillance technologies in Brazil, focusing on the use of facial recognition and its implications for public security and fundamental rights. The research is based on the problem: how can the Brazilian State balance the technological efficiency of facial recognition in public security with the protection of fundamental rights, given the lack of specific regulation and gaps in transparency, accountability, and governance? Using the deductive method and bibliographic approach, the investigation draws on a Foucauldian perspective to analyze the ambivalent role of the State, which simultaneously protects fundamental rights and expands its power in the name of public security. The lack of specific regulation for facial recognition exposes discriminatory practices, driven by algorithmic biases and the appropriation of data by private entities, thus challenging democratic principles. Governance, grounded in active and passive transparency, is presented as essential to legitimizing the use of this technology. However, low transparency indices reveal an opaque implementation without proper oversight. The study also critiques surveillance capitalism, which commodifies personal data and instrumentalizes human behavior, deepening social inequalities. The study concludes that the State must balance technological efficiency with the protection of fundamental rights, ensuring that facial recognition is used ethically, transparently, and in a manner that respects human dignity, thereby preventing the perpetuation of inequalities.

Key words: governance; facial recognition; public security; post-democracy.