The Scottish Biometrics Commissioner, Dr. Brian Plastow, has welcomed ongoing discussions between the UK and Scotland about the future of live facial recognition technology. The Labor government plans to conduct a series of discussions on the use of LFR technology by police before the end of the year.
The dialogue follows the announcement that the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland and the Commissioner will hold tripartite discussions on the potential benefits and risks of LFR. The three parties co-hosted the first ever “Biometrics in Criminal Justice Conference” in Edinburgh in June, where they agreed to the talks.
Meanwhile, in Romford, London, the Metropolitan Police reported four arrests following the deployment of live facial recognition systems at key public locations, Romford Recorder reports. The technology successfully flagged individuals wanted for offenses including robbery and serious assault.
When it came to identifying suspects involved in the past summer’s riots, Northumbria Police utilized retrospective facial recognition, leading to several arrests in Sunderland following the disorder on August 2, the BBC reports.
The force reported analyzing over 10,000 hours of CCTV footage using advanced facial recognition software that they say can identify people wearing masks to support their investigation. Northumbria Police emphasized the effectiveness of the technology in aiding their efforts to maintain public safety, but the debate over privacy and oversight continues.
Data privacy concerns that footage from police body cameras could be searched with retrospective facial recognition, which is not built in, have delayed their rollout in Scotland.
