The Metropolitan Police’s trial of live facial recognition in central London was covered by RightsInfo, including the technology’s ability to scan 300 faces a second – up to 18,000 faces a minute.
Director Silkie Carlo said:
“The police’s use of this authoritarian surveillance tool in total absence of a legal or democratic basis is alarming. Live facial recognition is a form of mass surveillance that, if allowed to continue, will turn members of the public into walking ID cards.”
“As with all mass surveillance tools, it is the general public who suffer more than criminals. The fact that it has been utterly useless so far shows what a terrible waste of police time and public money it is. It is well overdue that police drop this dangerous and lawless technology.”
RightsInfo: Mass Surveillance In London’s West End As Unmarked Police Vans Scan 18,000 People Per Minute