UK Cities South Wales And Gwent Trial On-Demand Facial Recognition App For Police

The following report is by Biometric Update:

The app, known as operator-initiated facial recognition (OIFR), allows law enforcement to take a photograph of a person’s face with a mobile phone and match it to a predetermined database. The technology, however, has quickly come under scrutiny from rights groups that warn that police searches could be conducted against thousands of photos of innocent people.

Police say that the OIFR will enable quick identification of suspects and missing persons. The facial recognition feature can also be used when a person is found unconscious or dead, refuses to identify themselves or provides a fake name.

“This mobile phone app means that with the taking of a single photograph which is compared to the police database, officers can easily and quickly answer the question of ‘Are you really the person we are looking for?” says Trudi Meyrick, assistant chief constable to the South Wales Police.

The app has already been tested by 70 officers across South Wales, securing quick arrests and detentions. However, digital rights group Big Brother Watch says that mobile facial recognition could create a “dangerous imbalance” between the public’s rights and the police’s powers.

For years, regulators and rights groups have been warning that the police are storing images of innocent people in its national database which may be used for facial recognition checks. This is despite a high court decision in 2012 ruling that keeping custody images of people who faced no charge or were charged and then acquitted is unlawful.

“South Wales Police will search against thousands of unlawfully held photos every time they do a face scan, and they should be fixing this ongoing industrial-scale privacy breach rather than exploiting these photos for yet more surveillance,” says Jake Hurfurt, head of Research and Investigations at Big Brother Watch.

According to the organization, South Wales Police has disproportionately targeted ethnic minorities for face scans, which may further undermine trust in the police.

The police note that in private places such as houses, schools, medical facilities and places of worship the app will only be used in situations carrying a risk of significant harm. Photos taken through the app will not be retained.

“The use of this technology always involves human decision-making and oversight,” says Gwent Police Assistant Chief Constable Nick McLain.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

In the video, McLain said: “It’ll never be used instead of traditional policing methods.” How long do we think that will last?

The U.K. is undeniably Orwellian and draconian at this point. People are increasingly being arrested for posts they make criticizing government policies on social media.

Jeremiah 5:26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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