Campaigners have warned that new guidance from the College of Policing on the use of facial recognition technology means victims of crimes and potential witnesses could be placed on police watchlists.
The college said the new advice for forces in England and Wales will make sure use of facial recognition technology is “legal and ethical”, but civil liberty groups branded it as an “atrocious policy and a hammer blow for privacy and liberty”.
They claim it could mean people with mental health problems are placed on a list if sought by police.
According to the guidance, the technology can be used in police operations to find “people who are missing and potentially at a risk of harm; find people where intelligence suggests that they may pose a threat to themselves or others; and arrest people who are wanted by police or courts”, including terrorists and stalkers whom officers have intelligence on.
It also says that “images that may be deemed appropriate” for inclusion on any watchlist include “a victim of an offence or a person who the police have reasonable grounds to suspect would have information of importance and relevance to progress an investigation, or who is otherwise a close associate of an individual”.
The guidance was issued after the Court of Appeal ruled in 2020 that the use of facial recognition cameras by South Wales Police as part of a pilot scheme breached privacy rights and broke equalities law.
‘Orwellian surveillance technology’
Silkie Carlo, director of the civil liberties and privacy campaigning organisation Big Brother Watch, said the group had “warned about mission creep with this Orwellian surveillance technology and now we see that this new policy specifically allows innocent people to be put on facial recognition watchlists”.
“This includes victims, potential witnesses, people with mental…
Source : skynews
