{
  "record": {
    "id": "3b60d83c-790a-4b9a-b71e-f2d683c3b421",
    "code": "PAI-3B60D83C",
    "force": "Ghent police zone",
    "country": "Belgium",
    "country_code": "be",
    "is_country": true,
    "region": "Ghent, East Flanders",
    "technology": "Video analytics search (BriefCam)",
    "technology_slug": "briefcam",
    "vendor": "BriefCam",
    "vendor_slug": "briefcam",
    "programme": "",
    "status": "operational",
    "stage": "in-use",
    "evidence": "journalism",
    "evidence_is_claim": false,
    "since": "",
    "legal_basis": "",
    "oversight": "Supervisory Body for Police Information (COC), which checks police compliance with privacy and camera legislation.",
    "notes": "The Brussels Times (23 September 2024) reports that Ghent police openly confirmed using BriefCam to screen hours of camera footage automatically, not for facial recognition; the example given is searching for a suspect matching witnesses' descriptions of clothing, which a spokesperson said would otherwise take hours of manual review. In the same report Aalst police also confirmed use, Antwerp declined to say, and Leuven and Bruges said they do not use BriefCam. The chair of the Supervisory Body for Police Information (COC), Frank Schuermans, told Het Nieuwsblad that facial recognition may be used only within a judicial investigation or when the search is limited to the police photo database, and that scraping is unacceptable. Professor Paul De Hert (VUB) is quoted saying there has been no proper parliamentary debate on the matter. No start date or contract is stated.",
    "source": "The Brussels Times, 23 September 2024",
    "source_url": "https://brusselstimes.com/1234388/belgian-police-may-use-facial-recognition-software-but-not-always",
    "last_checked": "2026-11-05",
    "record_url": "https://www.policeainews.com/tracker/record/3b60d83c-790a-4b9a-b71e-f2d683c3b421"
  },
  "licence": "https://www.policeainews.com/data#licence"
}