Met to expand use of live facial recognition into central London by Christmas
Summary
The Metropolitan Police in London plans to expand the use of live facial recognition (LFR) cameras in central London by Christmas and in six more areas by 2027. The technology scans faces in public, compares them to a list of wanted people, and helps the police make arrests, though it has raised concerns about privacy and fairness.Key Facts
- The Met has been testing live facial recognition with mobile vans and fixed cameras in Croydon.
- New fixed cameras will be installed in London’s West End and Soho by Christmas.
- By 2027, six more locations will have static LFR cameras, with local councils possibly helping pay.
- LFR matches faces against a watchlist of suspects and alerts police, who then decide on arrests.
- The Met says nearly 80% of Londoners support using LFR and reports 173 arrests from Croydon tests.
- Only one wrong identification occurred during six months scanning 470,000 faces, and that person was not arrested.
- Critics say LFR scans many innocent people, invading privacy and possibly showing bias against Black people.
- The Met claims it reduced algorithm bias by lowering sensitivity and says faces not matched are deleted almost immediately.
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