Live facial recognition is called to be stopped on Friday by 65 British Lawmakers, Reuters reports, joining the European Union's blanket ban on the tech that was implemented earlier this year.
The technology has been proposed in various applications, including the policing minister Chris Philp's suggestion. The tech is a new way to catch criminals via live cross-referencing and real-time bio-metric surveillance. The proposal draws different concerns from various groups.
The British Lawmakers called to stop the use of live facial recognition, with various non-profit organizations and charities previously joining the plea.
Statewatch and 30+ organizations worldwide called out the legal, ethical, and other concerns that the technology brings.
Big Brother Watch, among the many, has previously called out how facial recognition surveillance cameras take millions of "faceprints" within the UK, often without consent, calling it a "dangerous precedent." Such tech was seen as a "threat to our privacy and freedoms."
The Guardian reported that the European Union has implemented a blanket ban on the said technology as a regulation practice, limiting its use in police activities in public spaces under one of the first possible laws on Artificial Intelligence coined as the "AI Act."
Banned Face Recognition
EU proposed to regulate live facial recognition last June by categorizing it as an "unacceptable risk AI system" believed to "bring threat to people." Only three types of technologies were determined under the said category, with tech that brings "cognitive behavioural manipulation" and "social scoring" along with live facial recognition.
Live Facial Recognition has long been used by the British police, including the recent coronation of King Charles II, coined as the "biggest live facial recognition operation in British history" claimed by a leading academic expert according to The Guardian, where some have feared the technology could be used against protesters and activists.
Tech Times also reported how UK schools warned students last 2021 regarding the use of facial recognition technology for contactless payments.
The same report indicated how the British Police previously assured protesters by clarifying the live facial recognition technology would not be used to "identify people... involved in protest activity." The police force continues to believe in the merits of the new technology, while other groups and even countries see its potential risk.
Global Views on Live Facial Recognition
Globally, live facial recognition has also been under constant scrutiny. MIT states that the US legislators within Massachusetts proposed a state bill last June that aimed only to allow state police to use the technology while outside police enforcement will be prohibited.
On the other hand, China drafted rules in regulating facial recognition last August. The draft legislation by the Cyberspace Administration of China indicates the technology can only be used with "specific purpose and sufficient necessity" while also requiring consent.
The tech giant that leads live facial recognition technology proves to be Clearview AI within the US. In an interview with NPR, the company was previously claimed by Kashmir Hill, a New York Times writer that the technology has a "database of billions of photos scraped from the internet" and then sold to "governments and police departments."
