South Wales Police have committed to using facial recognition software to scan football fans attending at match at Swansea’s Liberty stadium in order to identify ‘potential troublemakers.’ The last time this technology was used in 2017, it incorrectly flagged over 2,500 fans and send their photos to the police. Angry fans have vowed to wear Halloween masks to protest the use of this broad surveillance technology.
Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch, said:
“We stand by fans who are rightly alarmed and outraged. The police decision to target them with intrusive mass surveillance treats all fans as suspects, damages trust and is a total waste of public money. Police are eroding basic civil liberties whilst politicians look the other way.”
Metro – Football fans to have faces scanned by police at Cardiff and Swansea City derby
Engineering and Technology – Facial recognition technology used by police at derby football match condemned by fans