Digital rights campaign group Big Brother Watch (BBW) has initiated legal action on behalf of two individuals who were mistakenly identified as criminals due to facial recognition technology. In a groundbreaking move, both individuals are pursuing separate legal challenges to restrict the use of facial recognition surveillance and safeguard people's rights.
One of the affected individuals, an anti-knife crime community worker, was wrongfully detained and questioned by the police for nearly 30 minutes following a misidentification by the live facial recognition system operated by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). BBW Director Silkie Carlo, a co-claimant against the MPS, emphasised the inaccuracies and potential dangers of facial recognition technology, calling for its prohibition.
Separately, BBC News reports that a teenage girl was mistakenly identified as a shoplifter in a Home Bargains store. The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, described being wrongly flagged by the Facewatch system, leading to a humiliating bag search by a store employee and a subsequent ban from all stores using the technology. The companies that have installed Facewatch include Budgens, Sports Direct, Southern Co-Op and Costcutter. Facewatch has since apologised and admitted to an error in communication with the affected individual.
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