The Metropolitan Police has defended its use of live facial recognition technology, describing it as a “gamechanger” for tackling crime, despite human rights groups labelling it “Orwellian” and a form of mass surveillance.
Research by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), commissioned by the Met and South Wales Police, found a “substantial improvement” in accuracy, with a true positive identification rate of 89% for watchlists of 1,000 or 10,000 people, up from 72% for smaller lists. The Met said the chance of a false match at current settings is 1 in 6,000.
Lindsey Chiswick, the Met’s director of intelligence, said the technology allows officers to be more focused in tackling crime, including robbery and violence against women and girls. She cited a deployment on Oxford Street last summer that led to arrests for drug supply and absconding from prison.
However, campaigners from Liberty, Big Brother Watch and Amnesty International criticised the technology, warning it could wrongly flag innocent people and disproportionately affect communities of colour. Madeleine Stone of Big Brother Watch said: “One in 6,000 people being wrongly flagged is nothing to boast about… this could mean tens of thousands of us will be wrongly flagged as criminals.”
Katy Watts of Liberty said the technology “sows division”, while Amnesty’s Oliver Feeley-Sprague referenced the Casey report’s findings of institutional racism in the Met, questioning the force’s judgment in expanding surveillance.
