IN THE DIGITAL PENAL COLONY: FRANZ KAFKA'S LESSONS FOR THE PROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF FACIAL RECOGNITION SYSTEMS IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The article aims to investigate the dangers associated with the uncritical implementation of facial recognition systems in Brazil, with a special focus on the scope of public security, from a contemporary rereading of the short story "In the Penal Colony", by Franz Kafka. Using the bibliographic review and documentary research, the study resorts to the literary work to establish comparisons with the current dilemmas faced during the state implementation of facial recognition systems, presenting cases of errors in the identification of individuals. Next, the work draws on doctrinal lessons from national and foreign authors, and reports provided by the "O Panopticon" initiative to outline the contours of the phenomena of digital neocolonialism and algorithmic discrimination and to ascertain their harmful impacts on the black population. Finally, the article examines the provisions on the subject contained in the most recent version of Bill No. 2,338/2023, which proposes to regulate Artificial Intelligence in Brazil, and in the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), of the European Union, suggesting the normative improvement of the national text in light of foreign experience.