From BBC
The use of live facial recognition technology (LFR) is being trialled in parts of the UK. The Metropolitan Police, in London, is very keen to generalize the use of such cameras in order to help the police identify suspects and criminals. London already has CCTV cameras all over the place, but this is, of course, quite different.
They mention Croydon: whatever the ethnic mix in Croydon, in South London, the fact is that it is a crime-ridden part of Greater London. Many of the locals, who are non-white, welcome the use of the cameras by the police, in fact.
Unsurprisingly, the person who was misidentified is black: it is not talked about because it is deemed a sensitive subject, but the cameras have difficulties identifying dark-skinned people. I think it is, to a large extent, simply because, when the photo of a black person is taken, extra care needs to be applied in terms of the lighting, the angle, etc., or else the individual facial features of the person do not come out and the face is, essentially, not visible. It does not mean it is impossible: it just means it is less easy. It is a lot easier to take photos of white faces. I am surprised there have not been more false positives.
If the LFR cameras are used more broadly, it is likely that suspects on the loose will simply avoid town centres, or move around wearing dark glasses and balaclavas: are the police going to stop anyone who is, somehow, hiding his (or her) face? Not to mention Muslim women wearing the niqab. And hardened criminals known to the police do not hang around shopping centres and high streets anyway, do they?
And thus Liberty is diminished in the name of Security.
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A trial of Live Facial Recognition technology (LFR) in south London has helped cut robbery and shoplifting and led to more than 100 arrests, according to the Metropolitan Police.
The pilot scheme in Croydon, which launched last October, has seen fixed cameras mounted on street furniture instead of mobile vans, which map a person's unique facial features and matches them against faces on watch lists.
The Met said a third of the arrests involved offences against women and girls, including strangulation and sexual assault.
It comes ahead of a High Court challenge against the force's use of the technology, after a man was wrongly identified near London Bridge last year.
The Croydon pilot involves fixed 15 cameras, attached to lamp posts, at two sides of the busy North End high street.
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