Alice Ranson , Timothy Girling , Charles Craddock
conducted in the most efficient way possible given the prevalence of social media in modern day society , while being supplemented with the more traditional media platforms . That said , the campaign is still significantly short of reaching its target which could raise questions as to whether the campaign was conducted in the most efficient way possible . However , I believe this short-fall does not lie with the method of campaigning , but rather the message of the campaign itself , which will subsequently be discussed in the next section .
Results / Impact Ultimately , the campaign has not achieved anything in terms of concrete results , given it is still about 60,000 signatures short of the target necessary ( 100,000 ) if they want to have a realistic possibility of achieving their aim . That is not to say however that the campaign has not had some form of impact . Though difficult to quantify exactly , undoubtedly the social media campaign and subsequent media exposure has increased awareness regarding the issue of facial recognition technology and human rights . That said , not to the desired extent .
Conclusion To situate this discussion within the wider context of human rights campaigning , it is important to
85 identify that this is not solely a discussion about human rights , but also national security . And it is this latter framing which I believe makes Liberty ’ s aim of banning facial recognition technology highly unlikely . States have long eroded human rights in the name of national security , and facial recognition technology seems like one of those moments . Through the frame of ‘ national security ’, states are able to justify most means to this end . By framing it in such a way , it often helps to generate a degree of public support , as people become more willing to accept an erosion of rights for the greater good and safety of the country ( Fouzder , 2019 ). This arguably is truer when it comes to the abstract notion of ‘ right to privacy ’ and data , where the infringement is not physical as such . Unfortunately , any human rights campaign that is pitted against national security , in my opinion , is destined to fail .
Bibliography Boyle , E , Creamer , C ., Cosimini , A ., Karakaya , Y ., McElrath , S ., Montal , F ., and Siguru , W . ( 2017 ). Making Human Rights Campaigns Effective While Limiting Unintended Consequences . [ online ] iee . Available at : https :// www . iie . org / Research-and- Insights / Publications / DFG-UMinn- Publication [ Accessed 23 / 03 / 20 ].