Facial recognition cameras in Winchester city centre lead to arrests and charges
Facial recognition cameras deployed in Winchester city centre have resulted in arrests and criminal charges, according to local reports. The technology appears to be in active operational use by police in the area.
Why this matters: Live facial recognition on a public high street means anyone walking through gets scanned, whether they are suspected of anything or not. Most people have no idea it is happening. The fact that it led to arrests is exactly what proponents will point to. But the test is not whether it catches someone. It is whether scanning thousands of innocent faces to find one person is an acceptable trade. The UK has been slow to draw clear legal lines around this technology, and cities are filling that gap by just switching it on.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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