British Police Accused Of Illegal Use Of Facial Recognition

The use of live facial recognition (LFR) systems by police in the UK does not meet minimum ethical and legal standards, a study by a Cambridge University research team has shown. The scientists analyzed the use of the system by law enforcement officers in London and their counterparts in South Wales using their own audit tool.

The researchers concluded that the technology should be banned for use “in all public places.” This system matches faces captured by security cameras with photos from a database to find matches. The British police are testing it in various situations to fight crime and terrorism.

However, as the researchers found, the police are hiding information about how they use data and information about demographics. Therefore, the use of technology remains opaque, and therefore unsafe.