London police to expand live facial recognition use

Based on information from The Register, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is set to deploy static live facial recognition (LFR) cameras in London's West End and Soho by the end of this year. This expansion follows a six-month pilot program conducted in the south London borough of Croydon.

Static LFR involves temporarily mounting cameras on infrastructure like lampposts, with remote monitoring and officers on the ground identifying individuals matched against a watchlist. The MPS reported that during the Croydon pilot, over 470,000 people passed the cameras, resulting in 173 arrests. One notable arrest led to a two-year prison sentence for a registered sex offender.

However, civil liberties groups like Big Brother Watch have raised concerns, urging the Met to halt deployment until Parliament legislates on the technology's use. They cite potential issues like racial bias, referencing a case where a man was wrongly arrested due to a facial recognition match. MPS Commissioner Mark Rowley plans to increase the use of technology, including LFR and AI analysis of CCTV footage, to enhance public safety, despite budget constraints.

Source: The Register