UK urged to ban police use of facial recognition

British police should be barred from using facial recognition systems on streets, in airports, and in any public spaces. The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge reports this, The Guardian writes.

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The researchers examined two deployment sites for biometric identification systems in London and one in South Wales. According to the report’s author Evani Radi-Dixit, none of the three locations met the minimum ethical and legal standards.

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“To protect human rights and increase accountability for the use of technology, we must ask what values we want to embed in technology, and move from high-level principles to practice,” said the researcher.

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According to the report, police deployment of facial recognition systems does not incorporate many well-established methods for safe and ethical use of large-scale data systems.

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“This problem goes far beyond bias in facial recognition algorithms,” say the researchers.

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In 2020, the Metropolitan Police Service hired a scientist from the University of Essex, Pete Fassie, to examine earlier trials of the biometric identification system. The researcher refuted police claims of 70% effectiveness of the technology. According to Fassie, the figure was only 19%.

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The researcher described real-time facial recognition as a powerful and intrusive technology with real consequences for people’s rights.

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“What the Court of Appeal said in 2020—that the South Wales Police were using this technology ‘illegally’—makes it difficult to argue for continuing its deployment,” Fassie noted.

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The scientist added that law enforcement officials often have to decide on a case-by-case basis about using facial recognition, as successive governments have failed to establish a legislative framework.

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South Wales Police said that after losing in court they improved the biometric identification system. In total, the technology helped arrest 61 suspects.

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“Our aim is to ensure public safety and help us identify serious offenders,” said Assistant Chief Constable Mark Travis.

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The Metropolitan Police said that their powers derive from common law recognised by the courts.

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In May, UK authorities fined Clearview AI $9.5 million for illegally obtaining facial images of citizens from social networks and the Internet.

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