Swedish government proposes bill to allow police to use AI face-recognition

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police should be allowed to use real-time, AI-powered face-recognition to combat crime, Sweden's government proposed on Thursday, as it seeks new tools to stop sometimes violent offences rocking the Nordic country in recent years.

The proposed law would allow the police to use AI technology to locate or identify people in connection with serious crimes, such as human trafficking, kidnapping and murder.

"To push back gang crime and restore security in society, the police must have access to effective tools," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said in a statement.

Sweden has been plagued by gang violence for more than a decade and had by far the EU's highest rate of deadly gun violence per capita in 2023, the latest year for which there are comparable statistics.

The violence has come to overshadow all else in Swedish politics, driving the rise of a right-wing coalition that came to power in 2022 with support of the far right. The launch of the coalition ended eight years of rule by the Social Democrats, Sweden's dominant political party since the 1930s.

The government said the new law, which is still to be put to a vote in parliament and would come into effect at the beginning of 2026 if passed, would comply with personal integrity laws and only be used in matters of particular importance.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander, Editing by William Maclean)