WA police facial recognition trial: 1.38 million faces scanned, 122 arrests. How it worked and what's next
Western Australia police ran a facial recognition trial that scanned 1.38 million faces and resulted in 122 arrests. The program's mechanics and future direction are now under public scrutiny.
Why this matters: Do the math: 1.38 million faces scanned, 122 arrests. That means well over a million people had their biometrics processed by police without being suspected of anything. Facial recognition does not work like a targeted investigation. It works like a dragnet. Everyone in range gets pulled in first. The arrest number sounds like a success story. The scan number is the part that should get more attention. If this program expands, the question is not just whether it catches criminals. It is whether people walking around Western Australia have any real say in whether their face is collected and run through a government database.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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