A study conducted by the University of Cambridge has revealed that the use of live facial recognition (LFR) by UK police forces does not meet minimum ethical and legal standards. In analysing LFR used by the Metropolitan Police (Met) and South Wales Police, the researchers have recommended banning the technology from all public spaces.
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Live facial recognition (LFR) matches faces captured by security cameras with photos in a database to find matches. China and other non-democratic regimes have used this technology as part of state surveillance tools that violate people 's privacy .
UK police are trialling the use of live facial recognition (LFR) in a variety of ways to prevent crime and terrorism. For example, both the MET and South Wales Police have used to scan crowds at public events and compare faces to a “watch list” of criminals. In another case, officers used FRT smartphone apps to identify “wanted people” when scanning large groups of people.
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The research team found that in such cases, law enforcement agencies are “hiding” information about how they use data and demographics. As a result, it becomes more complicated to understand whether the tools are racially profiling, while also raising concerns about accountability.
The Met said the latest algorithms had led to more accurate LRF warnings, with false positives occurring less than 0.08 per cent of the time. They had previously claimed the success rate was 70 per cent, but an expert from the University of Essex hired by the police found it was actually just 19 per cent. “The fact that the Court of Appeal explicitly stated in 2020 that the use of this technology by South Wales Police was ‘unlawful’ makes it difficult to argue that this technology should be used ,” he said.
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On the other hand, the Met argues that these actions are based on British law. While parliament has passed legislation to protect online privacy, it appears that it has not been strictly enforced.
Facial recognition technology is a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of purposes. Although there are still some challenges to be addressed, the accuracy of this technology has increased significantly in recent years. As the cost of the hardware and software required to operate this type of system continues to decrease , it is likely that we will see even more widespread use of facial recognition technology in the future.
Information source: engadget.com
