British Transport Police facial recognition in London scanned more than half a million faces during a six-month trial in railway stations, and the system produced one false positive with no arrests. The trial cost £320,786 for equipment hire and police staffing, and it has since been extended for four more months into London Underground stations.
Fraser Sampson on proportion
Fraser Sampson, the former biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner for the UK, said police need to show the use of the technology is proportionate. He said, "However, they are processing special category personal data and the technology must be used in a way that is appropriate, proportionate and necessary. It’s for the police to show how any deployment meets those criteria and – as the ICO [information commissioner’s office] has recently reported – for their oversight boards to hold them firmly to account in doing so."
He also said, "We know the technology works, but using it in supermarkets to deter shoplifters and prevent attacks on staff is very different from deploying it to catch people on a public transport network." Sampson added, "Success in a shop means no such people coming in. Success for the police trying to catch people means people being caught."
British Transport Police trial
The six-month live facial recognition trial ran from February to July this year across 18 deployments. During that period, more than half a million faces were scanned and one watchlist alert followed.
That alert was later identified as an incorrect identification. The trial ended with no arrests, despite the original aim of helping officers catch offenders and people breaching court orders.
Transport for London support
Transport for London said the technology will "target and identify people on police watchlists at key stations chosen for maximum impact" and would "specifically tackle violence against women and girls, whose travel behaviours are shaped by experiences of sexual harassment and sexual offences." British Transport Police announced last month that the trial would continue for a further four months and extend to London Underground stations.
Sadiq Khan also confirmed this summer that the technology will be used on the newly pedestrianised Oxford Street, while the Metropolitan police and the London mayor’s office said fixed live facial recognition cameras would be installed in the West End. For passengers, the immediate change is that live facial recognition is no longer limited to the original station trial: it is moving into the London Underground, and the only documented result so far is one false positive and no arrests.
