Experts have warned of a ‘frightening expansion’ of ‘Orwellian’ technology as the government expands the use of live facial recognition across the country.
Ten vans equipped with facial recognition cameras will be deployed across seven police forces – Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Hampshire.
The Home Office maintains that this technology will only be used to catch ‘high–harm’ offenders with rules to ensure ‘safeguards and oversight’.
According to the government, the technology has already been used to make 580 arrests in London over the last year, including 52 registered sex offenders.
However, rights groups have raised concerns that the unprecedented rollout of this surveillance technology risks becoming overly intrusive.
Rebecca Vincent, interim director of Big Brother Watch, says that the move ‘represents a significant expansion of the surveillance state.’
Ms Vincent adds: ‘Live facial recognition turns every passer–by into a walking barcode and treats us all as a nation of suspects.
‘This move is not only worrying for our privacy rights, it is worrying for our democracy.’
The Home Office has announced that it will fund 10 new live facial recognition vans to deploy across seven police forces. Those forces are Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Hampshire
Facial recognition vans work by using cameras to automatically scan the facial features of passers–by and record measurements, such as the distance between the eyes.
This data is then compared to an existing watch–list while an officer checks the matches flagged by the system.
Under current rules, the technology can only be used to search for watch lists of wanted criminals, suspects, or individuals subject to bail or court order conditions.
However, the government is also preparing for a consultation in Autumn, which will help ‘shape a new framework’ for the technology’s use.
Facial recognition was first used in the UK during the UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff in 2017, but has since been used more widely.
The most enthusiastic adopters of the technology have been police forces in South Wales, London, and Essex.
Chief Superintendent Tim Morgan, from South Wales Police, which is coordinating the rollout, insisted the technology would be used ‘ethically’.
However, Big Brother Watch is concerned that there is a clear legal framework to ensure that facial recognition doesn’t infringe on individuals’ right to privacy.
Campaign groups have raised concerns that the use of facial recognition is overly invasive and ‘worrying for our democracy’
Big Brother Watch points out that Parliament never formally voted to authorise the use of facial recognition.
Instead, police forces have relied on a ‘patchwork’ of legislation to justify and manage the use of facial recognition.
Ms Vincent says: ‘Police have interpreted the absence of any legislative basis authorising the use of this intrusive technology as carte blanche to continue to roll it out unfettered, despite the fact that a crucial judicial review on the matter is pending.’
She adds: ‘The Home Office must scrap its plans to roll out further live facial recognition capacity until robust legislative safeguards are established.’
Likewise, Big Brother Watch alleges that the use of pre–approved watchlists has not prevented innocent members of the public from being swept up in arrests.
The group is currently assisting anti–knife crime community worker Shaun Thompson in his legal challenge against the Met Police after he was wrongly identified by a facial recognition camera.
The group also alleges that there have been incidents in which ‘protesters not wanted for any crime and people with mental health issues’ have appeared on police facial recognition watchlists.
The 10 new facial recognition vans will be deployed in the coming weeks, and it will be entirely up to individual police forces how and when they are deployed.
Big Brother Watch has branded the wider rollout of facial recognition as ‘Orwellian’, and points out that MPs have never voted on legislation authorising the use of this technology. Pictured: Big Brother Watch campaigners protest in front of a facial recognition van in Stratford, London
However, the Home Office insists that the vans will operate according to strict rules and only be used when there is ‘specific intelligence’.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says: ‘Facial recognition will be used in a targeted way to identify sex offenders or people wanted for the most serious crimes who the police have not been able to find.’
The Home Office also argues that the algorithm used by the facial recognition vans has been independently tested for bias by the National Physical Laboratory.
The rollout comes ahead of a planned consultation on how the technology should be used and what can be done to ensure transparency and public trust.
Each police force involved using one of the new vans must have ‘clear monitoring’ of their use and effectiveness for use in the consultation.
Lindsey Chiswick, National Police Chiefs Council lead for facial recognition, says: ‘Each Live Facial Recognition deployment will be targeted, intelligence–led, within a set geographical location and for defined period of time, ensuring deployments are proportionate, lawful and necessary.
‘I am confident that the increased use of this technology will continue to support the safety of communities across the country moving forward.’
The Home Office has been contacted for additional comment.
