Technological Surveillance and Potential Discrimination: An Analysis of Proposals for the Use of Technology in Public Security in Brazil’s 15 Most Populous Cities

Abstract

This exploratory, qualitative article examines the growing institutional trivialisation of technological surveillance in public security in Brazil, based on an analysis of government programmes from the current mayors of the 15 most populous cities. The corpus includes documents filed with the Superior Electoral Court during the 2024 elections by mayors who were candidates at the time. Compared to a study published in 2022, there has been an expansion in the devices and technologies adopted, alongside a continued focus on combating crime and ensuring security as the primary motivations. The analysis reveals that the large-scale adoption of digital technologies by security agencies, particularly facial recognition, occurs in a regulatory vacuum, marked by a lack of statistical data and opacity surrounding their use, operations, and funding. The study also highlights the ethical challenges concerning the protection of privacy rights, especially for vulnerable groups, which are notably absent in the discourse of local administrators. This situation is exacerbated by reports indicating that Black individuals are disproportionately affected by misidentification and related injustices from facial recognition technologies in the country.