Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, has been on the front lines of the debate surrounding the use of facial recognition technology by the police. With the increasing use of this controversial tool, Carlo has witnessed firsthand the impact it can have on individuals like Shaun Thompson, who was picked up by police one night.
Carlo has been vocal about the lack of public awareness regarding live facial recognition technology, emphasizing that anyone whose face is scanned becomes part of a digital police line-up. If a match alert is triggered, individuals may be detained, questioned, and asked to prove their innocence.
The Metropolitan Police’s use of facial recognition technology has been steadily increasing, with deployments rising from nine times between 2020 and 2022 to 67 times already in 2024. While champions of the technology argue that misidentifications are rare, the statistics tell a different story. One in every 33,000 people passing by the cameras is misidentified, and one in 40 alerts this year has been a false positive.
Michael Birtwhistle, head of research at the Ada Lovelace Institute, believes that the laws have not caught up with the rapid advancement of facial recognition technology, creating legal uncertainty around its use. Despite concerns raised by civil-liberty campaigners like Carlo, a majority of people in places like Bethnal Green are supportive of the technology if it helps tackle crime.
However, questions remain about the long-term effectiveness of facial recognition technology. Will individuals simply learn to avoid the cameras, rendering the technology ineffective? Carlo warns against normalizing facial recognition, as it could pave the way for a mass-surveillance state akin to China.
As the debate rages on, it is clear that the use of facial recognition technology by the police is a contentious issue that will continue to spark debate and controversy in the years to come.
