Hasty Briefsbeta

Facial recognition vans to be rolled out across the UK

11 days ago
  • #facial-recognition
  • #human-rights
  • #police-technology
  • 10 live facial recognition (LFR) vans will be deployed across seven police forces in England to identify serious offenders.
  • The technology has been trialled in London and South Wales, leading to 580 arrests for crimes like rape and knife crime.
  • Human rights groups, including Amnesty International UK, argue the tech is discriminatory, especially against communities of color.
  • The Home Office states the vans will only be used with specific intelligence and trained officers will verify matches.
  • A consultation will be launched to establish a legal framework and safeguards for the use of facial recognition technology.
  • The National Physical Laboratory's independent testing found the tech accurate with no bias for ethnicity, age, or gender.
  • Liberty supports creating a statutory framework but opposes rolling out more cameras before public consultation and legislation.