The Metropolitan Police today announced they would begin the operational use of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) on the streets of London, despite legal and ethical concerns about the technology repeatedly raised by Sian Berry AM and civil liberties and human rights advocates.
Sian Berry says:
Both the results and the independent academic review of the Met’s trials of facial recognition showed that this intrusive technology was not effective, and used in a way that abused Londoners’ human rights.
In the Assembly I was given assurance by the Deputy Mayor and Commissioner it would not be deployed unless ethical and legal barriers could be overcome.
It appears the Met intend to ignore these promises and proceed with yet another deeply concerning infringement of our basic civil liberties.
Sian has challenged the use of facial recognition since the start of the police trials in 2016. In 2019, after the publication of a damning independent review of these trials, she worked within City Hall to gain assurances against its further use without new regulation coming into force from the MPS Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime. [1]
The Mayor told Sian in August 2019, after the London Policing Ethics Panel raised concerns over LFR, that: “We will continue to work closely with the Met and ensure the panel’s recommendations are addressed before further deployment.”
Authors of the Independent Report on MPS LFR Trials, Professor Fussey and Dr Murray, called for all live trials to be ceased until above concerns have been addressed, human rights compliance, and an appropriate level of public scrutiny and debate on a national level. [2]
Notes to editors
[1] Sian raised the failure of the trials and gained assurances on further deployment during the following Assembly meetings:
MQT (Mayor) – August 2019
Police and Crime committee (Deputy Mayor and Deputy Commissioner) – September 2019
Plenary meeting with the MPS (Commissioner and Mayor) – October 2019
Transcripts available via www.london.gov.uk
[]. Independent Report on MPS LFR Trials: Operational Aspects, Prof Pete Fussey (Dept Sociology, University of Essex), 3 July 2019 : https://hrbdt.ac.uk/hrbdt-researchers-launch-new-report-on-london-metropolitan-polices-trial-of-live-facial-recognition-technology/
Key Findings:
• Concluded that it is “highly possible” the Metropolitan Police’s use of LRF to date would be held unlawful if challenged in courts. Implicit legal authorisation claimed by MPS was unlikely to satisfy human rights law
• Documented significant operational shortcomings which could affect viability of any future use of LRF technology.
• Impression that human rights was not built into the MPS system from the outset, and was not an integral part of the process
• LFR was approached in a manner similar to traditional CCTV. Failing to take into account factors such as the intrusive nature of LFR
The authors (Professor Fussey and Dr Murray) called for all live trials to be ceased until above concerns have been addressed, human rights compliance, and an appropriate level of public scrutiny and debate on a national level.
Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the MPS stated during her Vincent Briscoe Security Lecture in late 2018 “I believe so strongly that the balance between security and privacy is incredibly important, and never for the police to decide where the slider should sit.”
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812352/Biometrics_Commissioner_AR_2018_Web_Accessible.pdf
Tony Porter, Surveillance Camera Commissioner said: “it was unacceptable that no law had been introduced to control how intrusive technologies such as facial recognition were used.” Times article, 17 June 2019 – Ministers must act over ‘explosion’ of spy technology, says watchdog.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spy-technology-ministers-must-act-over-explosion-says-watchdog-6qqxxw5tb
Prof Paul Wiles, Biometrics Commissioner said in his Annual Report 2018 – Commissioner for the retention and use of biometric material, on 27 March 2019, that police deployment of the technology was: “chaotic” and had run ahead of laws that could prevent it’s misuse: “deployment has run ahead of governance arrangements and specific legislation”
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812352/Biometrics_Commissioner_AR_2018_Web_Accessible.pdf