Transport for London (TfL) is switching on live facial recognition cameras at Victoria station from Tuesday, August 11, as part of a trial to identify and catch 'high harm' offenders. The cameras feed live images to a database, comparing faces against a police watchlist of people wanted for crimes including sexual offences, robbery, and knife crime.
How the system works
TfL said that images of people who do not match the watchlist will be 'automatically and immediately deleted'. The technology, also being rolled out by some supermarkets, has faced criticism for errors and being 'dystopian'. There will reportedly be 'alternative routes' and clear signage in the stations to allow people to make 'informed choices about passing through'.
Official statements
Siwan Hayward, director of security, policing and enforcement at TfL, said: 'Everyone should be able to travel without fear of harassment, intimidation or violence. Tackling violence against women and girls and preventing sexual offending on our network remains a key priority.' He added: 'Live facial recognition has the potential to be a powerful additional tool in helping police quickly identify those wanted for high-harm offences, including sexual offences, and supports early intervention and helps stop incidents before they happen.'
Ch Supt Chris Casey, BTP's senior officer responsible for the project, said: 'This marks an important new stage in our trial of LFR technology. Expanding deployments into London Underground stations will help us assess the technology in a different transport environment while continuing to refine how it is used across the railway network.'
Previous trials and concerns
The software was initially trialled at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 and officially deployed in 2020. It has been reintroduced in a six-month trial that started in February, including an initial pilot at London Bridge. According to the force's deployment logs, after scanning more than 530,000 faces, there were zero true matches and no arrests made. The system triggered a single false identification, mirroring an issue at Sainsbury's in February when a man was ejected from a store after being misidentified.
Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said: 'This is a disturbing and dystopian expansion of live facial recognition that will capture millions of innocent people's faces. Far from reserving this for exceptional cases, British police are now using live facial recognition routinely in the sort of pervasive way you might expect in China but not in a democracy.'
