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Live facial recognition cameras may become 'commonplace' as police use soars

a year ago
  • #privacy
  • #facial-recognition
  • #police-technology
  • Live facial recognition cameras are becoming more common in England and Wales, with nearly 5 million faces scanned last year.
  • Police forces are increasing their use of both live and retrospective facial recognition technologies, with significant funding and hardware investments.
  • The technology is being deployed in public spaces like city centers and transport hubs, despite lacking specific parliamentary legislation.
  • Concerns exist about the self-regulation of facial recognition use, including past settings that misidentified black people disproportionately.
  • A new national facial recognition system, the Strategic Facial Matcher, is being developed to search multiple databases.
  • Public support for facial recognition is high, with surveys showing 80% of Londoners in favor.
  • The technology has aided in arrests, including cases involving registered sex offenders.
  • The Metropolitan Police is using settings to avoid bias in misidentification related to gender or ethnicity.
  • Questions remain about the regulation, testing, and ethical use of AI and facial recognition technologies in law enforcement.