Responding to news that the Met plans to use facial recognition at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, Big Brother Watch interim director Rebecca Vincent said:
“It is worrying to see the Met resorting to the use of invasive live facial recognition technology at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival after scrapping it when a prior trial led to widespread outcry on the grounds of bias. We know that LFR is less accurate in scanning minority faces, so using it to target attendees of this beloved cultural celebration is particularly sinister. Plans to use this dangerous and discriminatory technology should be immediately scrapped.
This planned deployment is even more concerning given the continued lack of a legislative basis, leaving police to write their own rules with no accountability or oversight. Capturing biometrics on a mass scale will not make London safer. The Met should channel its resources into a proper on-the-ground police presence to deal with actual criminals rather than compromising the privacy rights of millions of innocent carnival-goers and local residents.”
ENDS
NOTES
- Big Brother Watch is currently supporting an anti-knife crime community worker in a landmark legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police’s use of live facial recognition surveillance after he was wrongly stopped and detained
- Big Brother Watch has set up a Crowdfunder to support legal action against the widespread use of live facial recognition
- Spokespeople are available for interview. Please direct enquiries or requests for interviews to info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk or 07730439257
- More detail on Big Brother Watch’s work on facial recognition is available on our website