Wales Introduces Britain’s AI-Powered ‘Orwellian Facial Recognition’ System (Worthy News Focus)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
CARDIFF/LONDON (Worthy News) – Wales is the first part of Britain to roll out a facial recognition system that critics claim will turn Brits into “walking barcodes” and “a nation of suspects.”
The technology, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), captures the faces of every person passing through an area covered in real time. It then compares them to a database of those described in reports as “wanted criminals.”
Additionally, police use an application, or ‘app’ in short, on their smartphones to confirm someone’s identity.
Officials say the app, Operator Initiated Facial Recognition (OIFR), has already been tested by 70 officers across South Wales and will be used by South Wales Police and Gwent Police.
Police claim photos taken using the app will “not be retained.”
Footage captured in private areas such as homes, schools, medical facilities, and places of worship will only be used in situations “relating to a risk of significant harm,” police pledge.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights activists complain that this goes even further than what British police used so far for surveillance based on live facial recognition: vans with one camera.
Critics say the move to position a host of security cameras in the central zone of Wales’ capital, Cardiff, is “a significant expansion” of the technique.
While police claim increasing live facial recognition “really enhances” their ability to do their jobs, the Big Brother Watch privacy group isn’t convinced.
The group has condemned the move as a “shocking” development. It says the system creates an “Orwellian biometric surveillance zone,” referring to George Orwell’s novel 1984 and its Big Brother character watching anyone.
Capturing everyone’s biometric data is turning Brits into “walking barcodes” and “a nation of suspects” and is a waste of public money, argues Big Brother Watch’s Senior Advocacy Officer Madeleine Stone. “This network of facial recognition cameras will make it impossible for Cardiff residents and visitors to opt out of a biometric police identity check,” Stone warns in remarks seen by Worthy News.
Police explain that the new facial recognition system can be used on unconscious or dead people to help officers identify them quickly “so their family can be reached with care and compassion.”
QUICK DETENTION
In cases where someone is wanted for a criminal offense, law enforcement authorities say the system will “secure their quick arrest and detention.”
British police add that cases of mistaken identity can be quickly resolved without the need to visit a police station or custody suite. Assistant Chief Constable Nick McLain of Gwent Police calls embracing the technology an “integral part of effective policing and public safety.”
“The use of this technology always involves human decision-making and oversight, ensuring that it is used lawfully, ethically, and in the public interest,” he says. “We have a robust scrutiny process in place to ensure accountability and testing found no evidence of racial, age or gender bias.”
Authorities stress that the main aim is to provide security during the international Six Nations rugby event, which ends on March 15. However, police also describe the move as “semi-permanent,” suggesting that similar projects could expand across Britain.
Yet over the three years that live facial recognition was used at sporting venues the technology has not led to any arrests, rights activities argue.
“No other democracy in the world spies on its population with live facial recognition in this cavalier and chilling way,” Stone notes, adding, “South Wales Police must immediately stop this dystopian trial.”
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