The more live facial recognition (LFR) van will be rolled out to seven police forces in England to detect suspects for crimes including sexual offenses, violent attacks and murders, the house office has announced.
Forces will get access to 10 new vans equipped with cameras, scanning the faces of people running in the past and examining them against the list of desired people.
The government says that technology has been used in London to make 580 arrests in 12 months, including 52 registered sexual criminals who have violated their terms.
However, the campaign group Big Brother Watch stated that “significant expansion of the monitoring state was” “dangerous”.
Live facial recognition was first used in Cardiff during the UEFA Champions League final football match in England and Wales in 2017.
Since then its use has been largely limited to South Wales, London and Essex In a bensey concert to scan for pedophiles and terrorists.
The government is now giving funds to share ten vans equipped with LFR among seven forces, doubling the number of vehicles.
The seven forces are Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Tems Valley and Hampshire.
The technology identifies people by measuring facial features, including the distance between the eyes and the length of the jaw and then the data compared to the existing sequelist.
Each van will be placed with a trained officer who examines matches identified by technology.
In addition, the government is giving an advice on the need for safety measures to “ensure transparency and public trust” before attracting a new legal structure.
Big Brother Watch, Shaun Thompson as well as bringing a legal challenge against the use of Met Police, Which was incorrectly identified by the LFR camera.
Rebecca Vincent, interim director of Big Brother Watch, said: “Police has explained the absence of any legislative base, which authorizes the use of this infiltration technique as the carts blanch has unfit it, despite the fact that an important judicial review on the matter is pending.
“The home office should pursue its plans to pursue its plans, until strong legislative security measures are established.”
Charlie Whelton, a policy and campaign officer in Liberty, said: “It is a welcome news that the government will eventually develop a statutory structure on the use of facial identity, but it should be more facial recognition technique before it rolles.
“There is no proper excuse to install more cameras on our streets before the public says and the law is brought to protect all of us.”
The government says that officers using LFR vans will need to guide the college of policing on technology and follow the monitoring camera code of practice.
It also states that an independent test of the facial identity by the National Physical Laboratory found that “algorithm is accurate and the settings used by the police have no prejudice for ethnicity, age or gender”.
South Wales Chief Superintendent Tim Morgan said: “We understand the concerns that are raised about the use of live facial recognition technology and we use any new technology morally and ensure that it is in line with all laws and guidance.”
The England and Wales Police Federation, which represents police officers, said: “The government should also invest in comprehensive training programs for officers along with this technology rollout, especially police forces face an unprecedented officer’s retention crisis.”
Home Secretary Yett Cooper said that the government will “provide police with equipment that they need to do their work”.
“Facial identity would be used in a target manner to identify sexual criminals or people wanted the most serious crimes that the police have not got.”
The Home Office has also announced that it has fulfilled the pledge of a manifesto to ensure that there is a nominated, contactable officer in every neighborhood of England and Wales.
It said that people can find an officer on the website of local police forces who have signed a commitment to answer questions within 72 hours.
The contact method provided will be up to individual forces.
