Revised Summary – Met Police Facial Recognition Technology
A report has criticised the use of the Metropolitan Police facial recognition technology, which was found to be 81% inaccurate. Researchers led by Professor Pete Fussey and Dr. Daragh Murray highlighted several legal and ethical issues in their report, urging the police to stop using the technology. The police, however, claimed their system misidentified only 1 in 1,000 faces. The public has concerns about the lack of consent and “surveillance creep”, with some treated as suspicious for avoiding the cameras. A list of outdated “watch lists” is also leading to false flaggings. Groups like Big Brother Watch are pushing for this system to be reviewed in court, calling it a violation of privacy rights.