
Critics of facial recognition technology have described it as a ‘dangerously intrusive and discriminatory’.
The Neoface system used by the Metropolitan police and South Wales police is supplied by the Japanese company NEC, which markets the same technology to retailers and casinos to spot regular customers, and to stadium and concert operators to scan crowds for "potential troublemakers".
The technology and its use by police has met considerable criticism. Its use by South Wales police is under judicial review, while the information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has criticised "a lack of transparency about its use". Tony Porter, the surveillance camera commissioner, last year intervened to stop Greater Manchester police using facial recognition at the Trafford shopping centre.
This month, University of Essex researchers who were given access to six live trials by the Met found matches were correct in only a fifth of cases and the system was likely to break human rights laws.














Comment: See also: The new leaders of the EU - A more incompetent and corrupt bunch we've never seen