City A.M. – The Notebook: Facial recognition CCTV is Orwellian. But it also doesn’t work
As Londoners, we’re disturbingly used to our every step being recorded by CCTV cameras – but would we accept them being turned into live facial recognition cameras?
The Metropolitan Police used live facial recognition four times last week across the city – in Tooting, Kingston, Southall and Hounslow. This year, the force has been using the controversial tech every other day. The cameras biometrically scan our faces, comparing us to photos on police databases – in real-time.
At a time when crime is soaring under the city’s failing police force, anything that promises to crack down on crime will have some public appeal. But the tech is dangerously invasive, often inaccurate and woefully ineffective.
Recently, I went to Croydon to watch how police were using live facial recognition in the area. In the five minute walk from the station down to the deployment, I witnessed two men put on balaclavas and rob a corner shop in broad daylight. There wasn’t a police officer in sight. When I got to the deployment, there were 15 officers standing around, gazing at tablets waiting for supposedly wanted criminals to walk past their cameras and the “facial recognition in use” signs, essentially handing themselves in for arrest.
Unsurprisingly, the arrest rate is low. Already this year, the Met has scanned 125,000 innocent Londoners with facial recognition – only 0.1 per cent of scans led to an arrest. Some scans lead to misidentifications and innocent people being wrongly investigated.
It’s a terrible use of taxpayers’ money. But the worst cost is our liberty. High crime rates make us less free but so too does Orwellian policing. Live facial recognition has no place in London.
Shopping surveillance
It’s not just police using the Chinese-style cameras – some retailers in the city are now using live facial recognition at their entrances to alert staff to customers they don’t want in store.
Facial recognition company Facewatch, started by the owner of Embankment’s renowned Gordon’s Wine Bar, has sold its software to Sports Direct, Flannels, Southern Co-op supermarkets and other stores.
You don’t need a conviction to end up on the private spying database – rather, shops add photos of customers taken from CCTV that they allege have stolen or been antisocial in the store.
We all want criminals brought to justice – but this private security system doesn’t involve the criminal justice system at all and risks intrusion and injustice for innocent customers.
Every week, people contact us at Big Brother Watch with horror stories of being misidentified by the private facial recognition system as a thief and publicly thrown out of stores. Has it happened to you? Get in touch: [email protected]
Tomorrow, I’m going to 10 Downing Street to deliver a petition against government bank spying plans, signed by 170,000 people. The government is sneaking in powers to force banks to constantly scan all our accounts on the premise of looking for secret criteria that could indicate potential welfare fraud or errors. The algorithmic surveillance plan has the ingredients of a Horizon scandal on steroids.
Our petition against the snooper’s charter recently made the front page of this newspaper. There’s still time to sign at Stopbankspying.com
City A.M. – The Notebook: Facial recognition CCTV is Orwellian. But it also doesn’t work
The post City A.M. – The Notebook: Facial recognition CCTV is Orwellian. But it also doesn’t work appeared first on Big Brother Watch.
Source: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-coverage/city-a-m-the-notebook-facial-recognition-cctv-is-orwellian-but-it-also-doesnt-work/
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Humic & Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex
HerbAnomic’s Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex is a revolutionary New Humic and Fulvic Acid Complex designed to support your body at the cellular level. Our product has been thoroughly tested by an ISO/IEC Certified Lab for toxins and Heavy metals as well as for trace mineral content. We KNOW we have NO lead, arsenic, mercury, aluminum etc. in our Formula. This Humic & Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral complex has high trace levels of naturally occurring Humic and Fulvic Acids as well as high trace levels of Zinc, Iron, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Potassium and more. There is a wide range of up to 70 trace minerals which occur naturally in our Complex at varying levels. We Choose to list the 8 substances which occur in higher trace levels on our supplement panel. We don’t claim a high number of minerals as other Humic and Fulvic Supplements do and leave you to guess which elements you’ll be getting. Order Your Humic Fulvic for Your Family by Clicking on this Link , or the Banner Below.
Our Formula is an exceptional value compared to other Humic Fulvic Minerals because...
It’s OXYGENATED
It Always Tests at 9.5+ pH
Preservative and Chemical Free
Allergen Free
Comes From a Pure, Unpolluted, Organic Source
Is an Excellent Source for Trace Minerals
Is From Whole, Prehisoric Plant Based Origin Material With Ionic Minerals and Constituents
Highly Conductive/Full of Extra Electrons
Is a Full Spectrum Complex
Our Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex has Minerals, Amino Acids, Poly Electrolytes, Phytochemicals, Polyphenols, Bioflavonoids and Trace Vitamins included with the Humic and Fulvic Acid. Our Source material is high in these constituents, where other manufacturers use inferior materials.
Try Our Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex today. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.
| Online: | |
| Visits: | 1,613,553,542 |
| Stories: | 8,180,176 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
