The London Metropolitan Police Service has begun using real-time facial recognition technology (LFR - Live Facial Recognition). The corresponding notice was published on the department's website. The police are confident that this will help fight serious crimes, including violence, the use of firearms and knives, etc.
In key places in the city, special cameras are installed that scan the faces of passers-by, alerting police officers in cases where a person is identified by the system as a wanted criminal. Police say that images received from the cameras, but not related to crime, are not stored or processed by any other platforms. The decision to store images will be made by the appropriate police officers.
Although law enforcement is confident in the usefulness of the LFR system, many are skeptical about it, calling it ineffective and in some cases illegal. For example, in April last year, researchers from the University of Essex found that the level of error in the operation of the LFR system could be as high as 81%. The technology began to be used by South Wales Police last year. During its use, about 2300 innocent people were detained by operatives as potential criminals.
It is worth saying that the London police began to implement the LFR system at the wrong time. A few days ago it became known that European legislators use of facial recognition technologies in public places in the European Union for a period of up to five years. The proposal will be considered next month.
Source: 3dnews.ru