Big Brother Watch responds to Northamptonshire Police’s plans to use live facial recognition at Silverstone
Responding to Northamptonshire Police’s announcement that they intend to deploy live facial recognition at Silverstone on 8th and 9th July, Madeleine Stone, Senior Advocacy Officer, said:
“Live facial recognition is a dystopian mass surveillance tool that turns innocent members of the public into walking ID cards. Northamptonshire Police are trampling over the public’s rights and liberties by using this Orwellian technology.
“Deploying this biometric surveillance to track protesters is a dangerously authoritarian step that aligns the UK with the likes of Russia and China. Only this week, Putin’s regime was found to have violated human rights law for using facial recognition surveillance to identify a protester.
“Live facial recognition surveillance has no place in Britain. Northamptonshire Police must urgently drop their plans to use this rights-abusive technology.”
Notes:
Northamptonshire Police have announced they will be deploying live facial recognition for the first time the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Their statement can be found here.
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