Residents in a London borough are protesting against the Metropolitan Police's use of live facial recognition technology during protests. The technology, deployed in mobile vans, has raised concerns over accuracy, racial profiling, and poor regulation, according to Newham councillor Areeq Chowdhury.
The Met Police defends the use of live facial recognition, stating it is deployed based on specific intelligence to target dangerous suspects who are hard to find. However, critics argue that the technology is a form of policing on the cheap amid budget cuts.
The Home Office has sanctioned the use of mobile biometrics scanner vans, but public confidence remains low. The debate comes as other tech issues surface, including Microsoft 365 outages affecting Teams and Outlook, and a leaked US TSA no-fly list.
