South Wales Police unveiled its draconian plans for a live facial recognition zone in Cardiff city centre. These cameras use algorithms to compare the faces of individuals who pass through the area to a ‘watchlist’ of wanted criminals, and will alert nearby officers if a match is detected.
Madeleine Stone, Senior Advocacy Officer at privacy group Big Brother Watch, warned against the use of such invasive technology:
“Embedding facial recognition surveillance in a city-wide CCTV network represents a shocking expansion of police surveillance, and turns Cardiff into an Orwellian zone of biometric surveillance.
“This unprecedented use of the technology could pave the way for the mass rollout of permanent facial recognition surveillance across the UK.
“Live facial recognition technology turns us into walking barcodes and makes us a nation of suspects.
“This network of facial recognition cameras will make it impossible for Cardiff residents and visitors to opt-out of a biometric police identity check.
“For the last three years, South Wales Police has not made a single arrest due to use of this technology at sporting events, yet the force continues to waste taxpayers’ money on this rights-abusing technology.
“No other democracy in the world spies on its population with live facial recognition in this cavalier and chilling way.
“South Wales Police must immediately stop this dystopian trial.”