British Transport Police conducted a trial of live facial recognition technology across London’s railway stations from February through July, scanning more than half a million faces at some of the capital’s busiest transport hubs. The trial involved 18 separate deployments and cost taxpayers £320,786 in equipment hire and police staffing expenses, totaling nearly 100 hours of officer time.
According to a freedom of information document obtained by Liberty Investigates and reviewed by the Guardian, the trial generated only one alert against the police watchlist of suspects, which proved to be a false identification. No arrests resulted directly from the facial recognition alerts, despite the stated aim of catching offenders and individuals breaching court orders.
BTP announced last month that it would extend the trial for an additional four months and expand deployments to include London Underground stations. Transport for London, in supporting the extension, said the technology would target individuals on police watchlists at key stations and help address violence against women and girls by combating sexual harassment and offences.
Fraser Sampson, former UK biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner and current non-executive director at Facewatch, noted that police must demonstrate the technology’s use is proportionate and appropriate. He highlighted significant differences between deploying facial recognition in retail settings versus public transport networks, and emphasized that the trial’s lack of arrests suggests limited effectiveness in meeting its objectives.
The deployment represents part of a broader rollout across the country. More than half of police forces in England and Wales have now deployed live facial recognition technology, with the Metropolitan Police and London mayor’s office announcing plans for fixed cameras in the West End and on Oxford Street. However, parliament’s joint committee on human rights recently identified the expansion of live facial recognition as a particularly clear example of artificial intelligence risks to human rights, with Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy calling for a suspension of rollout pending stronger safeguards and a proper legal framework.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI