Live facial recognition technology used by police at Oxford Circus
Written by News on 20/02/2020
Live facial recognition technology has been deployed near Oxford Circus in London after an operational roll-out was announced last month.
The van-mounted cameras were spotted at the busy location, which is popular with tourists, on Thursday morning.
It is believed to be the second time the Metropolitan Police have used the surveillance in London – which has been criticised by civil liberties and privacy campaigners.
The force said on Twitter that the cameras would be used “at key locations in Westminster” from 11am.
“This technology helps keep Londoners safe. We are using it to find people who are wanted for violent and other serious crimes,” it said.
A photograph of a dark blue van, next to a sign reading “Police live facial recognition in use” was later posted on Twitter by UK civil liberties group Big Brother Watch.
“It’s alarming to see biometric mass surveillance being rolled out in London. Never before have citizens been subjected to identity checks without suspicion, let alone on a mass scale,” the group’s director, Silkie Carlo, said.
“We’re appalled that Sadiq Khan has approved such useless, dangerous and authoritarian surveillance technology for London.
“This undemocratic expansion of the surveillance state must be reversed.”
The group later tweeted that the cameras appeared to be broken and police were forced to pack up and leave.
Trials of the technology saw cameras used in locations including the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford and the West End, while operational use began earlier this month at the Stratford Centre.
People scanned by the cameras are checked against “watchlists” – said to contain suspects wanted by police and the courts – and approached by officers if there is a match.
The Met claims that the technology has a very low failure rate, with the system only creating a false alert one in every 1,000 times.
However, using a different metric, last year research from the University of Essex said the tech only achieved eight correct matches out of 42, across six trials it evaluated.
A spokesman for the mayor of London said Mr Khan has sought reassurance that police have met conditions set out in a report on the ethical use of the technology by an independent panel.
“New technology has a role in keeping Londoners safe, but it’s equally important that the Met Police are proportionate in the way it is deployed and are transparent about where and when it is used in order to retain the trust of all Londoners,” he said.
“City Hall and the ethics panel will continue to monitor the use of facial recognition technology as part of their role in holding the Met to account.”
(c) Sky News 2020: Live facial recognition technology used by police at Oxford Circus
