Latest news with #PoliceTechnology
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Metropolitan Police's policy over live facial recognition ‘unlawful'
The Metropolitan Police's policy over live facial recognition (LFR) technology is 'unlawful' because it is 'incompatible' with human rights laws, the equalities watchdog has said. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has said the UK's biggest police force's rules and safeguards over using the tool 'fall short' and could have a 'chilling effect' on individuals' rights when used at protests. The concerns come as the Met is set to deploy LFR, which captures people's faces in real-time CCTV cameras, at this year's Notting Hill Carnival over the August bank holiday weekend. Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has already sought to reassure campaign groups that the technology will be used without bias. The EHRC has been given permission to intervene in an upcoming judicial review over LFR, brought by privacy campaigner Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo and anti-knife crime community worker Shaun Thompson. They are seeking the legal challenge claiming Mr Thompson was 'grossly mistreated' after LFR wrongly identified him as a criminal last year. EHRC chief executive John Kirkpatrick said the technology, when used responsibly, can help combat serious crime and keep people safe, but the biometric data being processed is 'deeply personal'. 'The law is clear: everyone has the right to privacy, to freedom of expression and to freedom of assembly. These rights are vital for any democratic society,' he said. 'As such, there must be clear rules which guarantee that live facial recognition technology is used only where necessary, proportionate and constrained by appropriate safeguards. 'We believe that the Metropolitan Police's current policy falls short of this standard. The Met, and other forces using this technology, need to ensure they deploy it in ways which are consistent with the law and with human rights.' The watchdog said it believes the Met's policy is 'unlawful' because it is 'incompatible' with Articles 8, right to privacy, 10, freedom of expression, and 11, freedom of assembly and association of the European Convention on Human Rights. Big Brother Watch interim director Rebecca Vincent said the involvement of EHRC in the judicial review was hugely welcome in the 'landmark legal challenge'. 'The rapid proliferation of invasive live facial recognition technology without any legislation governing its use is one of the most pressing human rights concerns in the UK today,' she said. 'Live facial recognition surveillance turns our faces into barcodes and makes us a nation of suspects who, as we've seen in Shaun's case, can be falsely accused, grossly mistreated and forced to prove our innocence to authorities.' 'Given this crucial ongoing legal action, the Home Office and police's investment in this dangerous and discriminatory technology is wholly inappropriate and must stop.' It comes as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended plans to expand LFR across the country to catch 'high-harm' offenders last week. Last month, the Metropolitan Police announced plans to expand its use of the technology across the capital. Police bosses said LFR will now be used up to 10 times per week across five days, up from the current four times per week across two days. The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.
Sky News
a day ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Face-recognition tech will be used without bias at festival, Met boss says
The facial recognition technology deployed at this year's Notting Hill Carnival has "significantly improved" from previous years and will be used without bias, the Metropolitan Police has said. Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said the live facial recognition (LFR) technology will help locate any dangerous individuals attending the carnival over the August bank holiday weekend. He was responding to concerns raised by 11 groups, who in a letter to the commissioner claimed the technology was a "mass surveillance tool that treats all carnival-goers as potential suspects" and has "no place at one of London's biggest cultural celebrations". It also said that LFR technology was "less accurate for women and people of colour" in certain settings. Sir Mark said that when the technology was used at the carnival in 2016 and 2017, it "did not build public confidence", but has since "significantly improved" and now performs to a "much higher standard". He added that the force has selected the algorithm it uses "with care" and knows how to use it in a non-discriminatory way. The letter, signed by groups including Liberty and Big Brother Watch, said there is "no clear legal basis" for Scotland Yard's use of LFR. The letter added: "Notting Hill Carnival is an event that specifically celebrates the British African Caribbean community, yet the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) is choosing to use a technology with a well-documented history of inaccurate outcomes and racial bias." Rebecca Vincent, interim director at Big Brother Watch, said she is "deeply disappointed" that the Met "has chosen to dig its heels in" after the call to scrap the "Orwellian" technology. She added: "We all want criminals off the streets, but turning (the) carnival into a mass police line-up is not the way to do it." Around 7,000 police officers and staff will be on duty each day throughout the weekend. Police will use LFR cameras to identify individuals listed as wanted in the national police database. Meanwhile, a UK retail facial recognition system has reported its highest-ever monthly total of suspect alerts, its operators say. Facewatch said in July 2025, it sent 43,602 alerts to subscriber retail stores - the equivalent of more than 10,000 suspects flagged every week for the first time. The figures also represent a 134.8% increase compared to July 2024. Facewatch reported a total of 407,771 alerts over the 12 months leading up to 31 July, with current live data indicating that the upward trend is continuing into August.
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Met defends facial recognition plan for Notting Hill Carnival
The Met Police commissioner has defended Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology as a tool that helps officers locate people on watch lists, ahead of its use at Notting Hill Mark Rowley responded to calls from civil liberty and anti-racism groups to drop its use of LFR, which treats people "as potential suspects", at the bank holiday event."Our aim is to ensure that Carnival remains a safe and inclusive celebration for all. It is our operational judgement that LFR has an important role in delivering on this aim," Sir Mark said in a added that almost 350 arrests were made at Carnival last year for a range of offences including homicide, rape and possession of weapons. On Sunday, 11 organisations penned a letter to Sir Mark, where they described LFR as "a mass surveillance tool that treats all Carnival-goers as potential suspects and has no place at one of London's biggest cultural celebrations".They said the decision to reintroduce the technology at Carnival was "deeply disappointing" and argued it could be "less accurate for women and people of colour". 'Learning from experience' Sir Mark said the force had designed an extensive and complex policing operation to keep carnival-goers, expected to be more than one million in number, wrote: "We acknowledge that when LFR was previously deployed at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 and 2017, it did not build public confidence."At that time, the technology was in its early stages and the algorithm's performance was limited. The legal and oversight position was also very different."He said that since, the technology had made "considerable progress", and had an improved algorithm that performed at a higher standard."We have also refined our operational approach - including not using LFR within the Carnival footprint," he added."These developments reflect our commitment to learning from experience and improving how we support public safety while maintaining trust." The groups concerned about the technology included Liberty, Big Brother Watch and the Runnymede Trust. They highlighted an ongoing judicial review brought by Shaun Thompson, a black Londoner who says he was wrongly identified by the system and letter stated: "Notting Hill Carnival is an event that specifically celebrates the British African Caribbean community, yet the [Metropolitan Police] is choosing to use a technology with a well-documented history of inaccurate outcomes and racial bias." Sir Mark said the force had selected an LFR algorithm with care, which "does not perform in a way which exhibits bias".He added that safeguards were in place to ensure the force used the technology in a non-discriminatory way. Referencing the number of arrests last year, Sir Mark said that a small minority of Carnival attendees "have used the event to commit serious crimes"."Our use of LFR is part of a much broader strategy to locate, disrupt and deter the minority who pose such risks," he said. He concluded: "Where we know that LFR can help locate individuals the police need to speak to, and those people pose a public safety risk to the many seeking to enjoy Carnival, it is entirely reasonable to ask - why wouldn't we use it in this context?"
CBS News
07-08-2025
- CBS News
Baltimore County Police get community input for drone response program
The Baltimore County Police Department is gathering community feedback for its proposed Drone as a First Responder program, which will assist officers during emergency responses. Maj. Wes Fischer, with the Baltimore County Police, says the program would be funded by money the county receives from speeding cameras. If the department moves forward with the project, a policy needs to be drafted citing what calls the drone would respond to, and then a pilot program would be started. "Slowly start with a certain area and respond to a limited number of calls to make sure the technology works," Maj. Fischer said. Having a drone as a first responder, agencies like police departments can deploy them from a farther distance, which allows the technology to be first on the scene of an emergency, according to law enforcement officers. The vantage point also gives officers a better idea of the area they are responding to. "There have been cases where drones have responded to the scene first, and a person was reported to have a weapon, but they were able to say, 'No, we're able to see it. It's not a weapon," Maj. Fischer said. "You can then de-escalate. You can control your response a little differently." The police department shared the advantages of drone use with residents in Dundalk Wednesday night at a community meeting, hoping to get their feedback and support. "It can picture people," Baltimore County resident Olivia Lomax said. "You get the right person. You're not picking up somebody who just happened to walk by. I think it's essential." But some residents have doubts about the drone program. "It's a good tool for the police officers," said Baltimore County resident Paul Stifflar. "As far as keeping crime down and all the police calls coming in, they're still going to come in." Baltimore County Police will have the drones back out on display on Thursday in Randallstown and then on Monday in Towson. The Anne Arundel County Police Department recently launched its patrol drone program, focused on enhancing emergency response. The program expands the department's existing drone operations, previously limited to crash investigations, to include real-time support for 911 calls and police-generated incidents. According to the department, the drones provide aerial perspectives to help officers deploy resources more strategically. "When they get to the scene, they can deploy a drone, obtain real-time information, and they can direct officers to where the actual problem is," said Marc Limansky, a spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County Police Department. The patrol drones will assist in searches for missing persons, crowd and traffic management during special events, and live video transmission to the department's Real-Time Information Center. Baltimore City unveiled its draft drone policy in July 2023 to allow the use of drones in scenarios such as documenting crime scenes, SWAT situations, active shooter events, and hostage rescues. In April 2024, the Harford County Sheriff's Office used drones to apprehend suspects in two home invasions. In November, Harford deputies captured two Baltimore City teens accused of breaking into more than 20 vehicles. Also in 2024, Howard County police used a drone to locate a minor who crashed a stolen car and left the scene. Drones also assisted in the arrest of David Linthicum in 2023 after he shot two Baltimore County Police officers and fled to Fallston.
