“The UK’s Metropolitan Police have began formally deploying Live Facial Recognition technology across London, claiming that it will only be used to identify serious criminals on “bespoke ‘watch lists’” and on “small, targeted” areas.
Yet, at the same time, the UK’s largest police force is also listed as a collaborator in a UK government-funded research programme explicitly intended to “develop unconstrained face recognition technology”, aimed “at making face recognition ubiquitous by 2020″.
The £6.1m programme, which also includes the Home Office, various biometrics companies, and a University in China – home to some of the most pervasive face surveillance in the world – shows how governments are investing in facial recognition technology designed for mass surveillance.”
UK: This UK Government-Funded AI Programme Wants to Make ‘Face Recognition Ubiquitous’. (But Sure, We’re Probably Being Paranoid About Face Surveillance) (Privacy International, link)